The breathless fall
by The Green Stag
Summary: Set after Iron man 3 and Avengers. Tony/Loki. Tony is fighting Loki on earth with the other avengers, when Loki uses a portal to escape Tony crashes into him, sending the pair to jotunheim by mistake. The two must survive this inhospitable place together to make it back home. But what does it take to go from allies to something more? (Read part 2 in "Landing somewhere unexpected")
1. What have you done now Stark?

**Background:** This takes place after the Avengers movie and Iron man 3, With some minor differences.

Tony and Pepper were never romantically involved in any way. (and never got his arc reactor out because of it) Loki has managed to escape from Asgard and is now living on earth.

I do not own any Marvel Characters, The movie's interpretation of them, or any other awesome stuff. this is purely for fun.

**Chapter 1 **

**"What have you done now, Stark?"**

"Power is at 14 percent sir"

"I _Know_ Jarvis, quit reminding me"

WHAM!

Tony punches the nearest creature, trying to conserve as much energy as possible, because these stupid monster-troll things do not have the brains to go down when he hit them. Of course Banner is in the middle of –god-knows-where, and of course he "forgot" his damn phone, and of course the hulk could have made short work of these ugly buggers, but no. Banner has to save the world one sick orphan at a time.

Several of the trolls manage to dog pile Thor, who is now almost completely hidden from view under the mass of bodies swarming all over him. "Tony! I can not hold them off for ever!" he growls and smashes a troll over the head with his hammer. "We must deal with my brother quickly!"

"Agreed thunder boy, But I've got a party of my own to deal with." Gasping for air, Tony finally catches a glimpse at Loki, who is currently fencing with Captain America. Loki is a jabbing ,twirling blur with his spear and all the Captain can do is keep blocking, because Loki Isn't giving him a moment to breathe.

Tony gets kicked from behind and goes sprawling across the street sending sparks everywhere. He is momentarily winded and then coughs to get his breath back. He grasps a nearby car door to hoist himself up and uses a pulse to knock the offending troll on _its_ back. The troll smacks into a lamp-post with enough force that Tony heard its skull crack. "Take that you ugly bastard." He wheezes. And the world spins for a moment. –Ok deep breath, If I pass out I in front of the guys I will never hear the end of it-

"Power at 12 percent sir"

"Damn it Jarvis, I'm not going to ask you again!"

He shudders to his feet, now completely punch-drunk. Another troll makes the mistake of coming for him, and he kicks it in the ribs, sending it sprawling. Another one on his left grabs his helmet and tries to twist his neck. Tony jabs it in the ribs and with a painful squeal it lets go. It turns it slobbery, hairy face to him and howls as it swings a wide right punch. Tony uses the momentum to pull the troll into a spin and heaves it as hard as he can. Which in his current state means instead of launching the troll to the end of the street, it merely stumbles and turns again. It comes at him again from the right and punches him in the chest, actually denting the armor. The troll holds his right arm and Tony is forced to block a rain of punches with his left, barely managing to hold his own. The troll is actually grinning, standing there whaling on him ,but Tony manages to heave his body up and twist his wrist, so his fist is facing the troll.

"Launch it now Jarvis!"

The Gauntlet in the troll's grasp flies from Tony's hand and sends the troll rocketing into one of its brothers. The pair go right through a clothing store with a satisfying crash. And thank-fully don't get up. "ya... you ladies take your time, but I doubt you'll find anything in there to cover your ugly mugs."

Tony raises his arm, sending the call for the gauntlet, when its's smacked right out of the damn air by Loki, who then flashes a wolfish grin at Tony. Somehow the little bugger got away from the Captain. Tony looks quickly around and can see him sprawled on the ground near a fire hydrant.

"Steve you better be faking dead again or I swear I'll kill you myself!" is all that he can shout before Loki is upon him. Loki leads with his spear thrusting the air right at Tony's head, but he ducts to the ground. He bends his knees and launches himself up trying to kick the stupid Asgardian right in his gloating face, but misses. Loki grabs Tony's ankle and thrusts again this time at his torso. Tony pushes back and tries to catch the spear, but it slides along his un-gloved hand and lodges between to armor plates around his mid-drift with a horrible screech. Tony gasps, this time in pain, and his hand and stomach begin to burn. Loki drops Tony's foot and grabs his spear with both hands and pushes Tony to the ground pinning him there. His hands slick with blood try to grasp the spear and pull it from his side, but he cant get a decent grip on any part of it. He really begins to struggle as Loki puts his weight into the Spear and now Tony can feel the sharp point slowly sinking into his left side.

"God-damn-it get off of me, you slimy green Bastard!" he grunts trying to hit and kick any part of Loki he can reach. If he hadn't taken on a small horde this morning, he would totally be kicking the demi-god's butt right now.

"Really stark? This is all the strength you can muster? Cant you see all your struggles are a pathetic waste against me?" he chuckles.

"You're the Pathetic waste, Hitting a good guy when he's down. Its not even a fair fight now." Tony squirms, trying to dislodge Loki or the spear in vain. He can tell he's got to get him off soon, or.. -nope no blacking out, keep it together stark-

"Fair fight? He spits "Three _mighty_ avengers against one god? No not fair at all. I had so very much wanted to rip each and everyone of you apart myself, but alas I'll have to settle for just you" Loki leans into his spear so his face is mere inches from Tony's " And After I'm finished peeling this ridiculous costume off you, perhaps.." He twists the spear making Tony cry out. "Perhaps I'll take that glowing heart of yours and keep it as a trophy. How long will you last without your battery, stark?"

Tony's vision hazes to red as he twists under the spear point, Growling like a frenzied animal. Loki jabs a dagger under his suit casing, cracking the outer arc housing. Tony's not caring about the pain, not caring about the danger to himself he head-butts Loki and uses his distraction to punch him as hard as he possibly can, and he pushes Loki just enough to loose his grip on his spear. Tony then staggers to his feet and repeatedly punches the god. "DON'T EVER touch me again!" Tony rages. Loki seems surprised by his sudden burst of animistic fury and Tony hope's is enough to at least go down fighting.

Tony is hitting Loki with everything he's got left, sending flairs, repulse blasts and a few good punches at the god, who is now staggering backward under the sheer number of Tony's attacks.

"STARK!" The Captain yells. "STARK! GET OUT OF THERE!" and Tony looks over to Steve who has broken the fire hydrant next to him and is using the high pressure water and his shield to hose down the remaining trolls Riot style.

Loki uses Tony's momentary distraction to back-hand him into a car. His head jerks up and he can see Thor on a building top, with dark angry clouds swirling around him. The water from the hydrant is getting everywhere and Tony can see Thor raise his hammer to call out his ligh- uhoh-

Tony puts nearly everything he has into is one pulse gauntlet and Loki is thrown into a stone wall. He then amps up the flight repulses and launches himself straight up. He sees captain jump into a nearby tree, as Thor calls down the Lightning. The effect is spectacular, the lightning chains up to every troll and they shudder and squeal and burst in sickening pops. Within seconds the are all nothing but brown puddles of goo. "yes! Now that's a party favor big guy!"

"I only wish I had thought of it earlier!" he calls back.

Tony laughs tiredly "Just give me more warning next time!" He looks around the puddles of slime from his spot in the air, but he can't find any green chaos god sized piles. "Shit, who has eyes on Loki?!" he panics for a moment, and sees him waving his arms sporadically. A blue glow begins to surround the god and Tony knows that whatever he is doing, cant be good. "I got him!" He yells dive bombing Loki from above and he's halfway there when Jarvis pips up

"two percent power"

Tony yells as the flight stabilizers cut out and he plummets like a stone. "Jarvis backup now!" he yells as he's falling towards the ground. He looks down enough to see that Loki has made a huge blue bubble out of his magic and –please please please let that be a real bubble and bouncy-

"JARVIS!" Tony is now close enough to see that there is something _Inside_ the bubble, -Stars?- and Jarvis kicks in the backup just as Tony crashes into Loki. There Is a blinding blue light that floods over everything and he can hear Loki yelling, and then an eardrum popping boom as the world around him feels like its squeezing him and-

Tony stark falls through space itself.


	2. Home is where the Stark is

Disclaimer: I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for Pepper.(and Tony never got his arc reactor out because of it)

**Chapter 2**

"**Home is where the Stark is"**

Tony Stark was falling. Again. When did this become a recurring theme? And definitely no Hulk to catch him this time, and almost no power in his suit. Without the ability to direct himself he was at the mercy of the blinding blue void that seemed intent on shaking him around like a Stark flavored martini. He knew he was going far and at a speed that was laughing at Einstein's theory of relativity, but to where? Where could Loki possibly trying to escape to? He attempted to grab Loki in the void, to shake him and demand that he stop these magic shenanigans, but as his hand closed on Loki's flailing arm, there was a great wrench in the void. The blue light burst and slammed him into something cold and dark. Tony went flying down the –mountain top? Too dark to see, where was he? And oh hell was that a-

"Rock!" he yelled right before smacking chest first into the strutting bolder, his one ungloved hand still grasping a hold of Loki. Some piece of his shoulder armor was torn away and he was now flipped over and tobogganing feet first down the snow covered mountain towards another piece of jagged rock.

"Shit! This is so not where I want to be right now!" He plunged his left hand into the snow in hopes the momentum he and Loki were getting would be enough to swing them wide –oh please please work-and Tony cleared it, but there was a sickening crack and Loki's arm was wrenched from his grasp. God-damn it he was going to need the little bugger to get the hell out of here, now where did he go? Tony was flipped onto his stomach and he saw Loki's ragdoll form sliding towards a huge crevice. "You are way too much trouble mister!" he yelled and dove belly first down the mountain after Loki. He was a few body lengths away and the cliff edge was coming up way too fast for his liking. He tucked in his arms and lifted his feet, getting a few more precious seconds of speed. Loki's cape briefly tore on an ice shard, pulling it out behind him and within inches of Tony's hand. He grunted and lunged for the cape, his fingers closing in on the material, but it slipped out of his grasp. He snuck a peek ahead and saw Loki was about to hit a small bump just before the gaping maw of ice.

"Jarvis, emergency power to boosters now!"

"But sir, that will drain-"

"I know just do it on three!"

"One" stark aligned his body to match up with Loki.

"Two" He smacked into a hunk of ice, tearing something important from his leg armor.

"THREE!" Loki bounced up over the bump and Tony gunned his thrusters, overshooting Loki and landing on his side ahead of him. He scrambled for a purchase with his good hand and reached for Loki with his other. He touched Loki's hand and would have caught it if not for the blood from the earlier fight. He lunged again and caught his fingers under a piece of the shoulder armor, just as his good hand found a rock. Tony came to a lurching halt just over the edge of the cliff, one leg dangling over the edge. There was a rush of falling snow in his wake that momentarily blinded him, and covered Loki who was hanging completely over the edge. "Eurggg..." Tony moaned utterly exhausted "Hey you, wake up. Damn it Loki wake up and climb up here because I don't have the energy to lift you up myself" he strained and pulled but Tony couldn't lift his arm any higher. It was taking all he had just to keep them suspended on the ledge. "Loki! Gahhhh... Loki you Idiot wake up and get up here right now. What the heck have you been eating? You weigh a tonne..." There was a soft groan from Loki below."That's it sunshine, just because you're a diva does not mean you get knocked out from one girly hit."

"I am not girly" Loki slurred

"Could have fooled me with the hair"

"Be quiet Stark... your voice is grating"

"Keep with the attitude mister and I might just drop you. Now climb up before we both fall"

Tony could feel Loki pulling himself up and over his arm, and he saw Loki's bloodied face rise above the ledge. Loki stabbed the ice above him with a dagger and heaved himself up and nearly on top of Tony's back. Now pinned under Loki he looked briefly upwards and his heart stuck in his throat. "Uh do you see that? Please tell me that's not going to do what I think It's about to do." Where they touched down farther up the mountain slope, the portal had turned into a large pulsating ball of blue flame. It was warping in and out of shape and it was flashing really fast, like when a bomb flashes and -oh hell-. "Loki your stupid portal is gonna blow! If it can take out a shield lab I don't wana see what it can do here!" Loki turned to Tony, eyes wide open in horror and opened his mouth to speak when, BOOM! The ball of magic flame _exploded_ and heaved up a mighty tidal wave of snow. "HOLD ON!" Is all Tony has time to yell before the smothering wave of snow hits them. He instinctively clutches Loki, because he knows he'll never get back if he's dead. And now Tony and Loki are being thrown off the cliff in an avalanche of snow and he's being banged and shoved and twisted in every direction, but he does not let go of the god in his arms. He's been turned around and flipped so he can't tell where up is anymore

-he wishes for a moment he had a chance to say goodbye to Pepper because he didn't last time and he doesn't know if he'll make it out alive-

and still the churning snow goes on and on, he's lost and disoriented and smacked around some more. He starts to panic because he's at the mercy of the avalanche that seems intent on killing him. He tries to move his arms with Loki curled in them, up towards his face to create an air pocket, when finally there is a little drop and he's brought to a slamming halt, Loki crunched up beside him. At least Tony hopes its Loki because everything is dark and cold and _smothering_ him and he can't breathe. He goes to his last resort, knowing it has a chance to kill him, but if he doesn't break free he'll definitely die. He moves Loki to the side and pulls up his energy readings in his H.U.D.. There is .7 percent left and he flicks the button with his eye movements to take all the power he can and funnel it into his chest piece for one last pulse. Tony gasps as his arc reactor from his chest fires through the broken armor, through the ice and snow to the cold night sky above. Tony sits there paralyzed by exhaustion and he can see his reactor flicker as his vision goes to black and he mercifully slides into unconsciousness.

Cold, Really cold and owwwwwww... What is that? Head hurts, hand hurts, and his chest feels like there's someone sitting on it. Feeling around in the dark he tries to find familiar things, the cold concrete of his workshop. Nope. An empty nightcap glass that would explain the massive hangover-like headache that is currently throbbing away. Nada. What he does feel is a cold wet body draped over him. He shudders and runs his hand along the slightly moving form which he now remembers is Loki.

"hey." He mumbles and shakes Loki's shoulders. "Rise and shine sleeping ugly, time to get us out of here" but the god is deathly still, and in a moment of panic he places his hand over Loki's chest. Tony can feel it rising and falling ever so slightly. "Good, at least you didn't check out on me."

His relief is short lived, as a cold gust of wind whips down the hole he made with his reactor. Tony chokes and coughs from the frigid air and gently moves Loki off his chest to expose his arc reactor. A pale blue light floods the little hollow he made in the snow, and he looks around to get his bearings. It looks like he's in a bubble about nine feet all around, and about five feet high. There is a large fallen tree in front of him and its girth and branches seem to be the reason that the snow is being held back. Above him is a hole in the "ceiling" about two feet around and shaped like a teardrop. Tony places Loki's limp form off to the side and tries to kneel. On top of his missing glove, shoulder, and most of his chest piece gone, one of his leg joints in the suit is warped and refuses to bend. He struggles with the manual release system because his fingers are white from cold and he can't quite feel them. It takes far longer than he likes to peel off his broken suit, tossing the junk to the side. Tony crawls over to the hole in the ceiling and begins to plug it with snow from the ground. He reinforces it with chunks of ice and branches because he's a good engineer and he knows the value of proper reinforcement, even when all he has to work with is snow and ice. He gets most of it plugged up and then remembers to leave a breathing hole so he pokes one with a left over stick. He's cleared out a good portion of the floor, and there is now a small divot around the trunk of the tree.

He remembers something and starts pawing through the broken pieces of his suit, his movements now agonizingly slow. "Nope, gah... where is it? Come on you stupid suit show me what I need." And there it is, a tiny silver and glass tube enclosed in his back armor. He twists open the top and three small bags pop out. He places a small hunk of metal from one bag back in the tube and sprinkles in a powder from the second, then a liquid from the last bag. He closes the lid and shakes it as fast as he can. Immediately glorious warmth begins to emit from the tube and it quickly becomes too hot to handle. He places it in his empty helmet and puts it near the divot under the branches. It begins to emit a soft yellow glow and Tony smiles, glad to have light and heat again. Pawing through the remains, he finds two reflective survival blankets, several thermal hot packs and bandages. Unfortunately all he has left of the emergency food is one tiny protein bar, but he is still happy that he can find even this. After crashing in the middle of Tennessee in the dead of winter he learned the hard way to carry some form of emergency supplies.

Tony places one of the foil blankets in the hollow and hauls Loki on top of it. -At least the little bugger is still alive, or I'd be stuck where ever the hell this is.- He sighs inwardly. He sits beside the slumbering god, and reaches for a handful of snow. He gingerly washes his injured hand and decides it's not a deep enough cut to worry about bandaging it. His stomach however is not as lucky. Lifting his shirt he sees an angry purple bruise just to the left of his belly button, and in the center is a fairly deep gouge. Tony gently washes away the blood and grits his teeth as he applies an emergency bandage. His ribs also protest as the wraps the gauze around his torso but he has to keep going. He winces as the pulls the knot tight, and moves over to Loki. He can see right away that Loki is going to have one, if not two black eyes and possibly a severe concussion. Tony takes a small glob of snow and washes away the blood from Loki's face. He can see Loki flinch at the cold, but he doesn't wake up. Tony can finally see the wound above his eyebrow and he delicately picks out a tiny shard of rock out as he cleans it. Using the other bandage, he wraps it around the sleeping god's head and Tony chuckles to himself because it looks like Loki is wearing a hippie headband now. Tony quickly looks over the rest of Loki, removing the pieces of armor and throwing them in the pile with his suit. He hasn't seen anymore blood, and really does not want to strip the god down to check for minor injuries. "Well, I'm going to sleep and if you wake up and kill me, I swear I will haunt you for the rest of your miserable eternal life" he mumbles. Tony reluctantly gets the other foil blanket and lies down beside Loki and covers the both of them ."The things I do to stay alive. First I put a giant magnet in my chest and now I have to sleep next to you for warmth. Urg."

Tony wiggles onto his stomach and uses his arm for a pillow. He takes one last look at Loki and just to see if he's faking it, pokes him on his nose. "Last chance to zap us out of here you diva." And Tony sighs because now he's actually going to have to sleep next to him. Damn it. He shivers from exhaustion and tries to make himself comfortable. Eventually Tony gives up and falls into a deep sleep, warmed by his mini heater and lulled by Loki's quiet breathing.


	3. I was present while you were unconscious

Disclaimer: I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Chapter 3 **

"**I was watching you sleep, I mean I was present while you were unconscious"**

Tony awoke to a coughing stutter that was coming from Loki. Really though, he'd been awake for a while, just dosing when he noticed his Asgardian bunkmate shaking and coughing in his sleep. Tony had just flipped Loki on his back, hoping that would make him stop, but so far it hadn't helped. Sighing he gave in and stretched his aching limbs to wake himself up. As far as he could tell he had gotten a few hours of good sleep.-well as good sleep as could be had under the circumstances- but for him it was enough. Tony reached over and felt Loki's forehead, then neck, and was shocked how cold he felt. If he could get Loki warmed up, hopefully he would awaken and poof them back home. Loki could go strut in his ridiculous green costume all the way into a shield prison, and Tony would be content to have a lovely evening with a large bottle of liquor and a few lovelier models.

"Apologies in advance, but I can't really think of anything else that would help. Just remember the first rule and don't kill me, got it?" He spoke to Loki as if he were awake, thinking hearing some sort of voice might help as well. "Sheesh, you have a lot of layers on, who seriously needs this much clothing?" Tony began taking off Loki's cape, jacket, boots and belt and layered them around the branches of the tree so they would dry near the "fire box" in his helmet. The coat was next, and Tony had some difficulty finding and then prying the little clips at the front open. He also notices that Loki's spear has apparently disappeared, and he cant find it hiding in his jacket anywhere. He sighs and hopes its lost in the avalanche, because the last thing he wants is to be trapped with Loki in a confined space with pointy objects.

Tony places the coat next to the boots and continues his work. Underneath Loki's coat is a light green tunic top which is soaked in sweat, and as he removes it, he can see a large bruise on his upper shoulder. What catches his attention are dozens of tiny scars all over his pale torso, some faded, but quite a few still puffy and red. "Looks like life was pretty rough with you too ,eh?" he whispers to no-one. Out of curiosity he runs his hand over a curved one right over Loki's heart. His skin is much colder here than anywhere else, and Tony can make out tiny blue lines radiating out from the scar. Loki flinches in his sleep and tony takes it as a cue to stop and places the tunic closest to the fire so it will dry quickly. With nothing else left, Tony kneels beside Loki, who has begun to cough again. He reaches for the string around Loki's pants and hesitates –you're a grown man stark, and it's nothing you haven't seen before- and thankfully Loki has a pair of underclothes on that Tony decides to leave. Tony then removes his own shirt and places it near the tunic, but he refuses to remove his pants, hoping they are dry enough.

Loki is shuddering again, and Tony sits with his back against the tree trunk with his thermal blanket over his shoulders. He moves Loki up and positions him so his frigid back is against Tony's stomach and Loki's legs are on the inside of his. Tony then wraps the thermal blanket around the pair of them and wishes the clothes would dry faster. Loki stirs and nuzzles his head so its right below Tony's chin, so close that he can smell something mint scented in Loki's hair. He wiggles up and out of the way, but now Loki's elbow is jamming him right in his stomach wound. "Ow. Quit wiggling, this is bad enough without you stabbing me again" Tony retorts hotly. As if he heard, Loki adjusts his arm to the side. Tony raises his eyebrow, but is past caring. After a few minutes Tony's back is stiffening and he tries to pass the time by thinking how he can find a way home if he doesn't know where he is now. In a while, he'll go look outside and see if he can find anything familiar, or at least buildings, or hell maybe there's a shield helicarrier right outside the door, and they haven't made a move 'cause fury is seeing how long it takes for him to admit to needing help. That just the thing Fury would do too, the dick.

Tony attempts to move because Loki is getting warmer and the clothes _must_ be dry now when Loki suddenly twists his face to smile wolfishly at Tony.

"Please do not move Stark, I'm quite comfortable now."

"What?" Tony gasps not quite able to form the word, and reflexively pushes Loki to the side.

"Now what was that for? You didn't seem to have a problem manhandling me in my sleep." Loki laughs, but the light in his eyes is more angry than humorous.

"You were cold –I was only – That's not even –You! Why didn't you say anything?" Tony stutters shuffling away. Not many people can throw him off his game, and Loki managed to do that in one instant. He childishly throws Loki's tunic at his face. "There! It's dry. Now get dressed so we can get the hell out of here!"

"First, mortal, pass me my remaining clothes. Then I will see about amending this situation"

Loki says mortal like Tony would say scumbag and right now that's exactly what he feels like calling the little god, but he keeps is mouth shut and flings a boot at Loki instead. It misses, but lands with a thump against the far wall. Loki smirks at him and stretches his arms above his head in a catlike manner. " Not a morning person after all stark?"He mutters, and Tony flings the other boot, but Loki snatches it in midair and tosses it to the side.

"And my pants?"

Tony shoots him a dark look. "They're not dry yet. You would have to prance around in real leather instead of something practical."

Loki is ignoring him now and slowly begins to pull the tunic over his head. It gets caught on the bandage Tony wrapped around earlier. He fusses with the neck opening for a moment and the bandage is pulled off in favor of the shirt. Loki pulls his tunic down over his hips and a trickle of blood emerges from his head wound. "Damn." He snorts, and uses one hand to stop the blood flow and the other to grope for the bandage. He winces and attempts to put the bandage on, but finds it difficult with one hand.

Tony is just sitting at the end of the Hollow watching Loki fumble with the bandage. Serves him right holding out on me like that. He could have helped at any time but he chose to sit there like a damn rock and make me do all the work.

Loki glares at him in frustration, and Tony can see that he needs help, but refuses to move."Stark, I need you to re-tie this crude bandage." He asks looking totally helpless, and holds the bandage out to him .Tony thinks it over and tilts his torso to show Loki his own bandage."Oh I'm sorry, I would but the wound you gave me hurts too much to move right now." He says sarcastically.

Loki rolls his eyes. "I was merely toying with you Stark. I did not know I had caused you injury."

"Well you did. And I'm not moving until I get an apology." Tony retorted, and knew full well he was being childish and difficult. He also knew Loki would never admit an apology, especially in front of the –literally- injured party. But Loki held out the bandage further, relaxing his frame and tilting his head down.

"Anthony Edward Stark, I am sorry I injured you, and I apologise for any grievance I have caused. Now will you kindly fix this for me?"

Tony was dumbstruck. How did Loki know his full name? And he seemed sincere in his apology. Was it a trick to gain his trust? Or was Loki toying with him again? He just sat there mouth hanging slightly agape, unsure of what to believe.

Loki sighed in exasperation. "Please?"

Well that did it. How could he refuse a begging god? Tony smiled and crawled over to sit behind Loki. "For a god, you're pretty fragile you know." He said taking the bandage from Loki's cool hand. "And by the way, how are you still this cold?"Loki stiffened at his words and turned his head away from Tony. "That is none of your business, Stark." He hissed.

"Alright cranky, I'm just making sure my ticket out of here isn't going to do a Captain America impression and turn into a human popsicle. Well god popsicle anyways." He rambled, off put by Loki's sudden darker change in mood. "Now hold still and I'll get this over with."

Tony took Loki's chin in his hand and tilted his head sideways to better see his wound. Loki was still holding his cut closed with his hand and as Tony reached to move it, Loki resisted and turned away. "Look if I don't clean the blood off, it's going to stick all over the bandage. Now hold still." Tony reached for his face and gently pulled at Loki's hand. His emerald eyes burned into Tony's with frustration, and as Tony tilted his hand away from his cut, there was a flicker of fear in his eyes. It was only there for a moment, but Tony noticed it and frowned. Tony picked up a tiny handful of snow and wiped the blood off Loki's cheek and eyebrow. He gingerly placed a smaller clump of snow to the cut, and saw Loki hiding a flinch.

"Almost done." Tony crooned, surprised even to himself the light tone he was taking. Everything now clean, Tony places the square of the bandage over Loki's brow. "Hold this." He motioned. Loki held up the bandage and raised his good eyebrow in questioning. Tony sighs and begins to pull Loki's hair away from his face, tucking it behind his ears. He takes one end of the gauze and wraps it around and around Loki's head, being mindful not to pull to tightly. The other end of the gauze went on the same way and he ties the back in a good knot. "There." Tony said, wiping the blood of his hands in the snow. "At least the bandage matches your shirt."

Loki scooted his back towards the curving wall. "Thank-you for your assistance, Stark."

"I'm a mechanic, I like to fix things." Tony shrugs, and reaches for his own dry shirt. "I'm just glad I had something to work with. I know what it's like to be stuck in the middle of nowhere without supplies. Not fun." He tucks his shirt down around his pants, and waves his hand over the "firebox" in his helmet.

"Huh, probably about an hour or two left in this charge. I've got a few more left, and they're supposed to last at least 10 hours a piece." He frowns for a moment, and checks the math in his head. He must have been asleep for far longer than he though, or there was something wrong in the batch.

"It's an ingenious piece of technology, and fortunate to survive the fall." Loki intones.

"Of course it is, I made it." Tony remarks with more than a little pride. Nothing wrong with a good ego stroking. "Which reminds me." He reaches over to the pile of supplies and fishes out the protein bar. "Well it's certainly not a five star meal, but it will keep us going for a while." He unwraps it with his teeth, and breaks it in into quarters. He tosses one quarter to Loki and sets one down on his knee. The rest he folds back into the wrapper and places it to the side. Loki brings the chunk of food to his lips and takes a tiny nibble, while Tony wolfs his down in one go. He was never one to waste time eating when he could be working.

Loki chews and swallows the tiny piece and goes for another bite. "For a survival ration, this is surprisingly agreeable." He says with a small smile.

"No, it's not."

"No, it is not." Loki agrees. "But I was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially one so willingly given."

Tony sits there playing with a stick in his hands until Loki has finished eating.

"Have you any water?" Loki asks.

"Uh. One sec." Tony reaches over and digs out his piece of shoulder armor. He pulls what wires he can out of the inside and washes it out with snow. He then flips his helmet over so the neck opening is facing up and places the "bowl" of armor on top and ads a handful of ice to melt.

"So..." Tony rambles again, uncomfortable to be using small talk with Loki. "Where are we and how do we get home? I mean you do know where we are right?"

"Actually I don't."

"What do you mean, you opened up the portal, how do you not know where we are?" Tony huffed and leaned forward.

"Well I indented simply to move to somewhere nearby, but you crashed into me and broke my concentration."

Tony sits up as much as he can and glares at Loki."My fault? This is my fault now? Just tell me you can get us back!"

Loki replies slowly as if he's explaining this to a child. "If I do not know where I am, I can not get to wherever I wish to go."

"And how did you go from wanting to zap somewhere else and zapping us to the middle of Antarctica? Its freezing and miserable. _And_ I have yet to see a dancing penguin!" Tony snaps at Loki.

"It was not my Idea there was- " He stops himself and Tony can see he's hiding something in his eyes. Loki takes a deep breath and composes himself again. " If you give me a moment I can find out where we are!" Loki holds up his hand.

"Fine."

"I require quiet. Please do not talk or move."

"Fine."

Tony sits there with his arms crossed over his chest like a scolded child. He just sits and watches. Loki arranges himself into a cross legged pose and closes his eyes. He places his hands in front of him, Like he's holding an invisible ball and begins to speak quietly and quickly so Tony has to strain to make out any words. There is a tiny thread of light weaving out of Loki's fingertips and forming a ball in his hands. Loki moves with the ease of practice and begins to push and twist the ball of blue light until It forms a perfect globe.

Tony realised he's holding his breath, fascinated at what is taking place in front of him. Here is something new, powerful and alien... and he hasn't the slightest clue how any of it works. He studies Loki's face as it ranges from concentration to frustration and is full of calculated intensity. His hands moving delicately and precisely where he wants, almost as if Loki is conducting a great piece of music in front of grand audience. Tony can tell from the way he moves that Loki is now utterly focused on the ball of light and he twists his wrist to change the colour from blue to white. The words he's chanting are in some language he doesn't recognise, and Loki is muttering them faster and faster now. But there is a whisper of something else that is not Loki's voice, but something that makes the hair on Tony's neck stand up and he shivers involuntarily. And now Tony can see a tendril of grey mist twist from the ground behind Loki and pause above his shoulder. The grey mist begins to solidify, and suddenly there is a dagger of ice and Tony doesn't think, he just lunges at Loki, pinning him against the ground, as the light in his hands vanishes and the and the dagger plunges into the snow.

"What!" Loki glares at Tony, his eyes full of venom. "You stopped the spell you Idiot!" he punches Tony who is babbling an explanation that Loki will not hear, when Loki stops cold. His mouth is agape and his eyes are wide with horror. Tony can see the blood literally drain from his skin, and it looks Like Loki is going to pass out.

"No..." he stammers. "NO NO NO NO!" Loki backs up as far as he can and lets out an ear-piercing scream.

"What? What is it ? LOKI DAMN IT WHATS WRONG!?" and Tony is shaking his shoulders and Loki reaches up and digs his fingers into Tony's arm, and pulls Tony down to his level.

"Jotunheim..." he gasps to Tony, his eyes wild with fear. "We're in Jotunheim!" and Loki, an all powerful Norse god, begins to shake in fear.


	4. I am the monster

Authors note:

Horray! Thanks for reading so far, and all of your favorites and follows. It means the world to me that so many people have read this so-far and I'm glad so many of you enjoy it! So lots of hugs all around. And I hope you all enjoy the chapters coming up , (hopefully soon, I'm trying to post at least twice a week now because I have a lot of story lined up. ) I've also tied to keep the writing style separate from Tony to Loki, and I apologise for any confusion with the " He, Him, and His" pronouns. And pay special attention to whenever "Tony" instead of "Stark" is used. Its meant to be more personal for Loki when he mentions him by first name.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

Chapter 4

**I am the monster parents tell their children about at night**

Jotunheim. He was back in Jotunheim. Back where the giants found him after his fall from Asgard. Back to the place where every indignity and torment was thrust upon him, tenfold, for the crime of killing their king and nearly destroying their world.

_- Loki whimpers, curled up against the far wall of his cell. The heavy chain around his neck is digging into his shoulders, drawing blood. He can hear the massive footsteps pounding ever closer, and he knows that this will never end. Every day he's taken apart a little more, new wounds and busies mark him as king slayer, betrayer, and whatever evils the Jotuns see fit to call him. Every day he screams and begs for it to stop, but his tormentors' just twist the knife in a little deeper. And every night he is subjugated to his darkest nightmare. His newly grown heart is wrenched from his body and replaced with an abyssal magic ice, called up from the core of Jotunheim itself, so that he may feel the breaking of the world played out in his very flesh. Every second his soul cries out, every moment blinding and agonising, and every time all he can hope for is that it will be too much for him to bear, and he will finally fade into mindless death. _

_And the door swings open, rough hands pull him to his knees-_

"LOKI! Loki, snap out of it!" Stark's frantic voice has pierced his clouded mind. "It's ok, whatever that thing was, it's gone." Stark is holding him close to his chest, cradling him like he was going to fall into pieces. "It's alright, I'm here." Stark murmurs, slowly rubbing his back in circles. He begins to sob, all thoughts on keeping up a pretence are gone, for a moment he just lets go and cries.

He's ashamed of himself, how could he fall apart like this in someone's company? Loki tries to steel his mind, and he takes a few shuddering deep breaths. He can hear Stark breathing loud and slow, and as he presses his head to his chest, he can hear the Iron man's heart pounding quickly. Loki uses this as a focus, listening to Stark's heart drum away, and will's his own heart to keep pace. Gradually he can hear Stark's pulse begin to slow, and for a few moments his heart and Starks are beating in perfect unison. The Iron man is still murmuring sweet words in his ear, and Loki is surprised how for a man born in the theatre of war, how soft and gentle he is proving himself to be.

"Here, drink this." Stark motions, pressing the bowl of melted snow to his lips. He eagerly gulps down a mouthful of the warm water and clears his throat.

Stark looks at him, his eyes full of concern. "Better?"

"Better." Loki mumbles. "Thank you."

"Are you going to tell me what that was about?" Stark asks, his hands on Loki's shoulders.

Loki wants to, yearns to but he cannot. He has never has a companion, not even a proper friend. And even though the enemy- no, the man- in front of him has now saved his life multiple times, he could not trust him. This was too intimate. His body heaves with a great sigh, and he pushed the memories as far away from his wakening mind as he can.

"No." Is all he trusts himself to say. "But we must leave immediately." He wiggles out from under Stark's arms and starts to put on the rest of his clothes.

"Go? I don't even know where we are now. And where is Yodlel-heim anyways?"

"Jotunheim!" Loki snaps at him, wiping the tears from his eyes. He has no patience or the time to deal with Stark's dry humor. "One of the nine realms. We must escape this world quickly, it is... not a world I care to linger on."

"Alright, fine. But I'm not going to last out there without something warmer to wear. My suit is scrap metal." Stark illustrates this point by dangling a frayed arm piece at him.

"Save what you can, for this world has crushed greater men than you. We'll need every advantage if we are to make it out alive." Loki is glad that his voice is no longer wavering, he needs to appear strong. If not to convince Stark, than to at least convince himself. The next move he has to make is particularly difficult, and he does not want the Iron man to see what kind of creature he really is. Loki finished dressing, and he sees that Stark is pulling pieces and wires from his suit and placing them in a pile at his feet. Loki can only guess at their purpose, but if Stark deems them important, they must be of value. Loki begins to gather his magic, feeling it flow from his very bones, up through the muscles in his chest and arms, and settle just under the skin of his hands. He knows the Jotun's are familiar with his magic, and they will hunt him down again whenever he uses it, but this is necessary for his -ally?- Stark's survival.

"Stark. There is a way for you to survive the cold, but you must trust me." And Loki sits there, studying Stark's face for any hint of malice, but what he sees is curiosity. Stark looks down at his hands, and snaps his fingers.

"Magic, right? Just tell me it isn't going to turn me into a reindeer. Only you can pull off the big antler look." He mimics antlers with his hands, forcing a laugh.

Loki is surprised at Stark's continuation with humor, is he trying to cheer him up? Or just uncomfortable speaking with him after his outburst?

"No, but you must face away from me... and close your eyes." He adds the last remark as an afterthought, just to be safe.

"Alright, just remember rule number one, no killing-"

"I will not harm you. Just sit and be quiet."

And Stark does just that. Loki kneels beside him and places one hand on his back, and the other on his forehead and closes his eyes . He stirs up the magic in his hands and tries to attune himself to Stark's presence before him. Loki can feel warmth radiate from Stark's body, akin to stone warmed in the hot sun. His muscles are tight in his back, and Loki wonders if it is from fear or anticipation. He aligns his hand to run parallel to Stark's spine, and feels small bumps under the t-shirt. Scars, three of them, clustered around the left of his spine. Loki begins to murmur ancient words, some out loud and some in his mind. He whispers words of binding and change, and his Jotun magic seeps from his finger tips and anchors into the Iron man's body. Stark flinches, and Loki can feel his brow furrow in a wince, but he doesn't gasp or tell him to stop. Loki continues, and opens a channel from his heart to Stark's, pouring a small piece of his being, his soul into Anthony's body. He moves his magic inside Tony, through his chest, and he can see in his mind's eye the tiny pieces of metal lodged inside his body. He moves past these and burrows the magic into Stark's very bones, where it ripples and changes him from the inside out. Loki can feel Stark grow colder and Loki opens his eyes, just to make sure the spell is working. He looks to Stark's face, and can see a blue tone flush into his skin and blend until he is as dark as a true Jotun. Stark begins to squirm, as the cold magic from Loki works its way down from his neck, though his core, and finally down to the tips of his fingers and toes. Loki removes his hand from Stark's back, and lowers his other hand to cover Stark's eyes.

"Do not move please. It is nearly finished." He whispers in his ear. "Just give it a moment to settle." Loki watches as the blue absorbs back into Stark's skin. When the last piece of his magic has bonded with stark, he carefully closes the channel between them. The effort of changing a mortal form, even temporarily, has weakened him greatly. He ignores the throbbing in his head and the dizziness of expended energy and simply sits down and breathes slowly to regain composure.

"It is finished mortal." He removes his hand from Stark's eyes.

"Huh. That was interesting." Stark says like he's calmly discussing an engine he's rebuilt, instead of his own body. Loki watches as he flexes his fingers and runs his hands over his face. "And weird, it's like everything's tingly. Also, I swear I taste actual peppermint, that's normal right?" He smacks his lips a few times for good measure. "Usually when I plug in my reactor I taste cocoooo-nut." he draws out the last word, and Loki can see him roll his tongue in his mouth.

"Are you fit enough to travel?"

"I guess. Lead the way Merlin."

Loki moves over to the opening and twists his wrists around to call forth his spear.

"I was wondering where you hid that." Stark motions to him, as he bundles the last of the supplies in a foil blanket. Loki clears an opening big enough to crawl through and digs his hands and feet in the snow for a good purchase.

"Catch!" Stark says to him, and throws up the bag. He catches it in one hand, and kneels to clasp Stark's hand to pull him up. He hands the bag back to Stark and takes in their surroundings.

The stillness of the frigid air is intent on smothering his very breath. His heart seems thunderously loud in his ears, and it seems like a pulsing beacon that calls out to the monsters of the dark. Loki clenches his spear in his hand and forces himself to focus on something else, anything else. They needed to get to the core of Jotunheim in the deep abyss, and he tries to contemplate the safest rout. The two of them are standing on a small hill of debris, and before them stretches the cold and dark maze of ice that is Jotunheim. To their right is a towering mountain, its sides bursting with crooked teeth of black ice. It looms over the landscape and casts an imposing shadow over the strutting towers of glaciers beneath it. It would be too perilous a road even under better circumstances, and Loki fears the creatures that hide in the darkest of places of the mountains. He turns his gaze to their left, and he sees a mosaic of broken ice sheets, slowly curving downwards to a cathedral-like tunnel under the surface. Loki can also make out the ruins of a temple of Jotun sunk eons ago, once a towering monstrosity, now just a meager smattering of broken bones covered in a frigid crown of ice and snow. The tunnel will lead them to what he needs, but it will take them right past he ruins he hopes to avoid.

"This way Stark." He motions, and starts off in the direction of the tunnel. "You would be wise to keep a close eye for the Frost giants. They are large and powerful, and do not take kindly to trespassers in their realm." _Or King slayers- world breakers- Loki is a plaything under their hands, to twist and cut-_

"If they catch us, you will never see you precious earth again." -_And his brother, his mother, his home in Asgard are all gone. He calls out but no one will answer him in the dark, he's so desperately alone- _

Stark keeps pace at his side."Abandon all hope ye who enter."

_Yes, he did abandon hope, and when the Jotuns grew tired of their games they traded him to the __Chitauri for-_

"An appropriate statement, Stark."

"ya, we'll be fine." He pants. "anything else you want to tell me?"

"just do not wander from my side. The magic I'm using to keep the cold from you will fade if we are separated."

"How does that work exactly?" Stark asks, and Loki can tell his question is genuine.

He ponders for a moment, wondering how much to say. "Always a curious one, aren't you Stark?" he replies, avoiding a direct answer.

Stark slides down particularly steep piece of ice. "You know I'll figure it out eventually."

Loki is sure that he will, after all, he is one of the more brilliant ones in his realm. Instead of replying he trudges a little faster through the knee deep snow. It is dangerous to be exposed on the hills like this, and he knows they must reach the relative safety of then ice sheets. Thankfully there is little moon and fewer stars in the cloudy sky making it a good time to be crossing the fields of snow. Suddenly a large chunk of ice breaks off a spire far ahead of them and plunges through what Loki thought was a solid ice sheet.

"Damn." He curses under his breath.

"I saw that too. We should head for the side near the glacier; it should be more stable there."

Of course it would also bring them through the broken temple, but it was a favorable alternative to falling through the ice. "Agreed."

Loki corrects his course and sees Stark step on a sheet of ice, losing his footing. "Whoa!" He gasps as Loki catches his flailing arm and helps him to his feet. "Uh, Thanks..." He apologises. "My legs are still Kind tingly. It's hard to balance in the snow." Loki snickers quietly, and as he sets the Iron man upright again, he can see a blush of colour on Tony's cheeks.

"Please try to be more careful where you place your feet."

"Will do."

Loki and Stark continue down the wavering and difficult terrain for several hours. Occasionally stopping so Stark can adjust the bag on his back, or Loki to get his bearings. At last they reach the foot of the ice sheets and Loki pauses abruptly. He can sense something painfully close to them. He strains his ears, not willing to use his magic, lest the thing watching them is drawn to it. There! A small whisper just around a corner of black ice. Loki recognises it as the language of the Jotun's, The Frost giants, and his heart stops in his chest. His vision begins to swim and his mouth is agape. _No, no! Not so quickly! Please, I want-_

Suddenly he hears Stark let out a yep, and before he can turn, –WHAM! - A sliding Stark plows into his knees knocking him on his back. Loki's head smacks on the ice beside the Iron man's own and together they slide into a snow bank. "Sorry I- mpfhhh!" Stark ties to say, But Loki is covering his mouth with his hand. He struggles away, but Loki keeps his hand firm. His heart thundering, Loki strains his ears for any hint that the Frost giants have heard them. Stark moves again, and Loki gives him a venomous look that he hopes will mask his fear. He raises a finger to his own lips and Stark nods in understanding. Letting go of Stark he can hear the voices grow louder and he begins to panic. Stark's face turns to white as he too can hear the voices, and then feel the footsteps pound closer. Loki holds himself deathly still and prepares himself. He clutches the spear in his hand, ready to go down fighting this time and looks to Stark for assurance. But what he sees is the Iron man clutching something small in his hand, and he has no Idea what Stark has planned but he is prepared to follow his lead. Stark raises his eyebrow at Loki as if to say, _Ready?_

Loki nods slightly, and Stark lobs the device as hard as he can towards the direction of the voices. It whistles through the air and there is a whoomf of a tiny explosion that showers them with snow. A startling flash of light is followed be several smaller pops of sound. Loki hears the Frost giants cry out and squeal in pain. Tony jumps up and pulls him to his feet, and together they run as fast as they can away from the Frost giants and towards the shadow of the sunken temple.

_If Loki had known what that temple housed, he never would have led Tony into its depths._


	5. Heart of Ice, Heart of Fire

**Authors note: **This one is a little emotionally heavy, I've tried to do without as much exposition as I can, and hopefully it works.

Disclaimer: I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

Chapter 5

**Heart of ice, Heart of fire.**

Loki was running in blind panic. He knew the Frost giants were far behind him, but all he cared about was putting as much distance between them as he could. He stumbled over the rough terrain only to climb up and run again. He jumped recklessly over fissures in the sheets of ice, and dove through sharp corners of crossed icicles. He was running like a stag before a great fire, running faster than he thought possible. _They would not catch him, never again!_ He runs on and on until his recklessness catches up with him. He's caught in a dead end; high walls of ruins and ice block his path. He darts about like a panicked animal and can hear footsteps running closer to him. He jerks around, ready to rip and tear and claw his way through the pursuer... When he sees Tony, hands up and walking slowly towards him.

"Easy big guy." He pants, exhausted from the chase. "There's nobody following us, I promise." He watches Stark take a few steps towards him. "I got them all. Just take it nice and slow, ok?" Loki allows stark to step closer, ever watchful of his movements.

"How? How to you know you got them all?" his anger and fear is so great that he nearly chokes on the words getting them out.

"They fell through the ice, I saw it." Stark is very close now, too close for Loki's comfort.

"Good." He hisses. "They all deserve to die. Vile. Wretched. Monsters." He punctuates each word by repeatedly stabbing the point of his spear in the ice.

Stark closes his hand over Loki's spear, stopping his movements. "I saw your face Loki, back when I fell. It was the same face I had when... when they were drowning me in the cave." Tony's eyes lock onto his, and Loki can see his pain, his frustration and anxiety played out in his eyes. "What happened to you here?" he whispers.

"No." Loki barks, his voice like steel. "I will not play this game with you Stark. You say these things to earn my trust but you will use me like all the others. If I had no use of you, I would have left you to die!" Loki seethes, directing his anger solely at Stark. He should have said nothing, just turned and walked past, but his emotions are boiling over, and he vents them in the only way he's ever been able to do. By pushing people away. Distance and solitude are the only companions he has ever needed. Even among his so-called family and piers he has always watched from the shadows. And when his "father" told him he was merely a means to an end, that he understood that everything in his past was a lie. He was no son of Odin, just another stolen relic, an unknowing puppet in the hands of others, dancing to a broken song of hate and pity_._

_How, How has this man gotten under his skin?_ To call forth emotions long since buried, to bring them out from him and expose them to the world. Loki looks to Stark for an answer, anything and is taken back at what he sees. Stark –Tony is holding his gaze, his brown eyes are glassy with unshed tears.

"I may be nothing more than a temporary bodyguard to you, but do not think for one moment that I know nothing of fear and pain. Whatever happened to you here, whatever they did, you DO NOT go running off like a coward. YOU GET UP and FIGHT, and you don't stop fighting until every single one of them is dead. Do you UNDERSTAND?!" Tony begins to sob "People died because I wasn't strong enough, wasn't fast enough. But after, I knew I shouldn't have been alive, not unless there was a reason. And the same goes for you!" Tony hangs his head. "You're still alive, make it for a reason."

"I.. I'm..." Loki's at a loss.

"Let's just go." he drops his hands from Loki's shoulders. "Come on Loki." Tony says extending his hand. Loki hesitates for a moment, his heart racing. And quickly grasps Tony's hand in his own before he can think any more.

"Alright Tony." He sighs, and lets Tony lead him out of the dead end he ran himself into.

Loki steps lightly on thin slivers of ice sheet, trying to spread his weight evenly. Stark Is in front of him, insisting he take the lead because if the ice can handle his weight, it will be fine for him. He hasn't said much to him in the hours since he was cornered, but perhaps that is for the best. He's just not sure what to say next. As he clears one particularly thin piece he takes a moment to study the man in front of him. Stark walks with purpose, even in this alien land he seems comfortable, and confident in his step. Every so often he pauses gazing at the architecture and ruins around him. Always thinking, always trying to make the world fit to his designs. There is intensity in this man, a burning fire in his heart, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. This man, Anthony, is a god among his own kind. Tony turns around and smiles back at him.

"Daydreaming?" he asks quietly.

Loki steps beside him. "I'm sorry I was lost in thought, Stark."

"Whelp, I've got some good news." Stark says, only slightly out of breath.

Loki raises his eyebrow in questioning. "Oh? And what have you found?"

"Look!" Stark grins and thumps the ground with his foot. "Solid ground again."

"Thank the stars for that." He sighs.

"Good thing too, I was getting tired of ice skating. Now it's on to the Freestyle cross-country portion of our Olympic games. Bonus points for not falling on your face."

"I suspect I am winning then."Loki laughs softly, surprised even to himself that he is joining in banter with Stark.

"Hey, the first two don't count. I fell on my butt, not my face." Stark pouts with an air of mock indignity.

"Yes you did."Loki chuckles.

It is... nice to talk of these little things, Instead of what happened earlier. Loki is glad that Stark doesn't bring the day's events back. He is still anxious and worried, but he chooses to let it fade into the back of his mind. For now he continues to follow the Iron Man's lead. Perhaps it is not so bad after all to have him in his company.

"So how much farther anyways?" Stark asks, his hands on his hips.

Loki flips through his memory. "A while yet I'm afraid. We must travel farther into the ruins, our goal is a tunnel hidden deep beneath the surface. We should be able to get there through the large opening in the ice, do you see it?" He points to the entrance of the cathedral of ice and he can see Stark follow his gaze.

"Gahhh.." Stark moans in exasperation. "Too far away, and I hate walking in this snow . Hey, what about that? Why can't we go through the big building sunk over there?"

Loki's breath hitches and he see's Stark's expression change to concern."Or not. The long way around is good."

Loki starts walking forward, His boots crunching on the thin layer of ice atop the snow. "Yes the long way around is better, and we are less likely to run into any more... surprises that way."

Stark keeps his pace and moves closer so that they can converse quietly. "So how many times have you escaped from here before?" he asks.

"I did not escape." Is all he trusts himself to say.

Stark looks at him questioning, but unwilling to prod much farther. "Well how did you end up on earth then? I've talked with Thor you know, and he says the last time he saw you was when you fell off the Bifrost."

_Yes. He fell. He fell from his father's graces and fell from his brothers arms. Loki saw in Odin's eye, a bitter disappointment, one that could never be reconciled no matter what he did. He would always be the lesser, the second, and now unworthy even of his fathers pathetic lie of love, He fell. Loki struggled with his thoughts his ambitions, what had he done wrong? Why? Why could no one see what he tried to do? So he let go, of everything, devoid of hope, full of loss, and fell into despair and chaos._

Loki cuts a dark look at stark. "I did not fall."

"Alright." Stark says taken off guard. "I was just trying to figure out another way out of here. It's good to have a plan B."

Loki continues to walk on, his attention solely focused on the road ahead. The path is easier now, just stepping through the snow. The occasional gap forces him to walk along side it until they are able to cross, but it is usually a shot detour. Loki feels something cold on his nose and looks up to the sky. The stars are gone, and in their place is a dark grey cloud that stretches from horizon to horizon. It begins to snow softly, dusting his hair and clothes with a layer of white. Stark too is prey to this, and soon he is dusted in a cover of snow. Even Stark's mustache is flecked with white and he thinks Stark looks like Saint Nicholas with his silver bag over his shoulder, white hair and growing beard.

Loki braces his spear against the steep path and he can feel Stark's warm hand on his shoulder. The snow has begun to fall in such quantities that he is having a difficult time navigating. There is almost no wind at all, just a constant downfall of snow that seems intent on swallowing up sound itself. He stumbles for a moment because the new snow has risen to the point above his knees and covering any hint of rock or ice beneath his feet. He presses on forward intent on reaching the relative safety of an overturned wall, next to a small frozen waterfall. At least under the wall he and Stark will be out of this blasted snow. Loki can feel something heavy in the air now, and he looks around for the source. A Large bank of fog is rolling down the mountain towards them at a sickening speed. He looks down and finds a good purchase fro his feet and when he looks up again, the fog has halved the distance between them. Loki stops to brace himself, and then panic sets in as he can see the silver of Frost giant magic shimmer on the surface of the fog bank.

"Stark!" He calls out, but the snow muffles his voice. Instead he pulls Stark closer and practically shouts in his ear. "That fog is magic! Prepare yourself, we are being flushed out." Loki strains and he believes he's heard an affirmative answer from Stark when the rolling fog bank hits them. He feels a spine tingling cold that forces his skin to break out in goose bumps. His eyes are squeezed shut concentrating on holding his place, lest he loose the memory of where they are and where they need to be. And when he opens his eyes, he quickly places one hand over his face in panic to check if his eyes are really open.

Gray and white. Wherever he looks all he can see is a dizzy swirl of gray and while. Loki can feel the moist fog air crawling over his skin, and he realises even though he is touching his own face, he can only make out the faintest shadow of his own hand. He takes in a deep breath and gags on the foul taste of dark magics. Then he really starts to panic. Nothing. Absolutely no sound comes from his mouth. He tries calling out to Stark, and his voice is swallowed up by the fog before it reaches his own ears. It is painfully, eerily silent. He can not even hear his own heartbeat or feel his own breath. Suddenly there is a pressure on his arm and he turns but can not see or hear what is holding him. He gropes blindly and he connects with something soft. He scrunches the object in his hand in a vain attempt to feel any sort of texture, when he recognises the weight of the foil blanket bag Stark should still be holding. The Pressure on his arm goes higher, up past his shoulders and He flinches but he knows that this should be Stark because he can feel the tiniest spark of his own magic upon contact. He clutches what he hopes is Starks' arm and pulls him forwards. Loki begins to run, totally without sight or sound to guide him.

He runs towards where he remembers the fallen wall and a frozen waterfall should be. He stumbles and claws in the blinding white for a purchase, straining all his senses, for a hint of where they are. He's sure they must have passed it by now, and then there, His spear jumps in his hand, and He knows somehow with absolute certainty that he has hit the fallen wall he was aiming for. He feels cool stone on the back of his hand and leads Tony under the wall and squeezes through a tiny gap under the frozen water fall and into a small cave. Still holding Tony's arm he swings his spear at what he hopes it the icicles over the entrance and is rewarded when he can feel his spear give way under a successful swing. Quickly he runs his hand where the gap should have been and he can luckily no longer find the entrance. Loki hopes the blockade will be enough and he leads Stark on until he hits a far wall.

Suddenly Stark stops dead behind him. Loki can feel him struggle to pull backwards, and he realises that Stark might not know it is him. He stops as well and finds what he hopes is Stark's back. Loki paces one hand on Tony's back and one hand up and over Tony's head to cover his eyes. He wishes he could speak, but all he can do is hope Tony understands his actions.

_Remember this? Do you remember sitting there as I poured a piece of my magic and my heart into yours?_

There is a pressure on his chest, and he hopes Tony understands what is going on. He stands stock still to let Tony figure out that it is him. The pressure of Tony's hand has moves up his chest and around the back of his neck. Loki shivers at the touch. He can feel Tony 's hands up through the crown of his head and then follow his long strands of hair to his ear. There is a second sense of pressure on the other side of his head and he can feel Tony tracing the line of his eyebrows, down his nose, and across his high cheekbones with both hands now. Loki blushes at this intimate contact, but He knows that Stark will not go forward with him unless he is sure it is Loki himself. Starks hands are following his jaw line now and he can feel a slight warmth from his fingertips. Lastly Tony's hands come to a stop under his chin and he can feel one thumb being slowly drawn across his lips. His heart thunders in his chest and Loki involuntary opens his mouth, and there is something in front of him now, a shadow of a face. He instinctively leans in and –

He can feel Tony's warm lips brush his own, softly at first, then Loki can feel his heart plummet as Tony moves one hand behind his head and brings him closer for a smoldering kiss. Loki hesitates at first but when Tony pulls him close, an arm around his waist now, he surrenders to his companion's embrace. He can feel Tony's hunger and eagerly matches it with his own passion. His blood begins to sing and Loki loses all thought as Tony kisses him again and again, each impact igniting a fire in his chest. He breaks contact for a moment, just to breathe again, and he can see the fog dissolving around them. Within moments he can see Tony's molten brow eyes and wolfish smile.

"I found you." He whispers in Loki's ear, sending a shiver of pleasure down his spine.

"Yes.. you did." Loki replies and touches his forehead to Tony's own. He stares into his eyes, and Tony simply wraps his arms around him in a loving embrace. And for the first time in a very long time, Loki is at peace.


	6. Bright metal on a sullen ground

**Author's note:** Apologies in advance, I know some of you read this in Nordic countries, so I wanted to give you a heads up! Loki curses in Norse. Sorry if there is incorrect use of words or level of appropriate language.

Also 1,800 readers in a week and a half? You guys are awesome! Thank-you so much for taking the time to read my story. A hug from Tony and Loki to you on my behalf! =)

I also promise more action scenes to come! (bonus points to whoever knows what the chapter title is without googling it!)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

Chapter 6

"Bright metal on a sullen ground."

"We should be safe enough in this cavern for now, Stark." Loki says as he rests his head on his knees. Tony is digging through his bag intent on locating something, but Loki can't see what he is doing. He gives no indication that he heard Loki, so he tries again to start a conversation. "As long as you are alright, I have no need of your little box of artificial heat." Stark is ignoring his voice and begins to lay items from the bag onto the floor. Slightly hurt at Stark's continued silence he tries once again. "Do you wish any assistance?"

"No." Tony says curtly.

Loki is at a loss, for the second time in as many days. In the fog, he had blindly led Stark into this cave and when he stopped, Loki tried to communicate that it was him without words, and Stark answered by kissing him.

-_His blood begins to sing and Loki loses all thought as Tony kisses him again and again, each impact igniting a fire in his chest-_

The memory burns in his mind, and he plays it over, looking for something that he might have done wrong. After their embrace Tony pulled an extra bandage from his bag, the last one, and re-wrapped Loki's head without a word. Then Stark simply sat down on the other side of the cave and began to fiddle with his trinkets, completely ignoring Loki in the process. And Loki, all powerful god of Asgard was left to the side, insides churning with frustration. Loki knows he has been particularly emotional around Stark, but trapped on this world with no-one at his side, he had no other person to connect to. He also knew Stark was genuine in his words of confidence and concern, so what had gone wrong? Was it simply that Stark, having gotten what he needed was finished with him so soon? Loki covered one hand over his mouth, to hide his face, and to keep himself from speaking more. He would not invite any more sorrow or pity from Stark. He still watches the Iron man in front of him unpack the last of the bag, all the contents arranged in tidy rows. He searches for an insight to Stark's mind for a reason for this distance. What Loki finds nearly stops his heart.

In the minutes it has taken for Stark to empty the bag, and Loki to wallow in his thoughts, Stark has nearly lost all the colour from his face, and is turning a sickly gray colour. Tony then lets out a halting cough and begins to wheeze at an alarming rate.

Loki Jumps across the room and knees beside Tony, arm around his heaving back.

"Tony! What's wrong?" Loki frantically searches for any sign of injury or evidence of pain when Tony manages a gasp.

"Panic attack..." he spits out and starts to hyperventilate in Loki's arms. "Couldn't make it stop... tried..." and he attempts to curl up in a fetal position.

Loki has never dealt with this on his own and his mind is white hot with fear. He can't use magic to help him, the Frost giants will be waiting for it. He feels helpless without it.

"Tony," he begs. "What do I do?" and Tony takes a fistful of Loki's coat and pulls him close. "Focus." He wheezes. "Anything." And Loki pulls him into an embrace to supports Tony's head over his chest, knowing that hearing Stark's own heart helped him before.

"Focus on the beat of my heart," Loki cajoles rocking them gently back and forth. "Can you hear it? Try to slow yours down to match mine."

"Can't."

"You will do this Tony. Just focus and breathe with me. In..." he waits for a shuddering breath from his companion.

"And out." He feels Tony's heart racing though his back and tries again.

"In..." another shaky breath from Tony.

"And out. Good, that's right." Loki rests his head on top of Tony's and begins again in a soft whisper.

"In..." A deeper breath this time from Tony.

"And out." Loki can feel some of the tension leave his body.

"In, nice and slow... and out... I'm right here." He croons and Loki is rewarded with a heaving sigh from Tony that Loki feels throughout his body.

"Now try to take smaller breaths. In..." and Tony listens to him, his breathing beginning to slow.

"And out again. Easy, easy... I've got you..." Loki continues to rock and croon to Tony until he is satisfied that the worst is over. He can feel Anthony's heart strumming at an even pace now and his breathing is slow and steady. Tony looks up to him with bloodshot eyes.

"Sorry about that." He whispers "This isn't really a good week for me."

Loki tilts Tony down so he is lying on the floor and sits beside him. "You have nothing to apologise for."

Tony closes his eyes, but keeps speaking. "My fault. I thought I was Dying. In the fog. Couldn't see, or speak. Terrifying. Reminded me of drowning, and bad things."Tony reaches out with his hand, and Loki takes it in his own. "Then I couldn't find you, and when I did... I wanted to make sure I didn't lose you again." The colour has begun to bloom in Tony's cheeks and Loki just sits and listens. "And I kissed a God. You I mean, and I've never done that before. It was more than I could handle. Hence the freak-out."

"I will not let you do that again if it will help in the future." Loki says with a note of sadness in his voice.

Tony is silent for a moment and Loki wonders if he's fallen asleep.

"No." Tony starts, and Loki is filled with dread.

"I think I'll be ok next time." Tony says the last in a faint whisper and smiles.

Loki watches his companion fall into a deep sleep from the exhausting day and the energy consuming attack, all the while holding his hand and smiling softly. When he is certain Tony is fast asleep, He reaches for the blankets and pulls them over them. Loki then snuggles close enough to hear his companion's rhythmic breathing and quickly falls asleep, his hand still locked together with Anthony's.

"Good morning Tony, I see you've finally decided to join the land of the waking." Loki muses as he finishes melting a second bowl of snow over the "fire box" he started.

"Huh... Good morning." Tony yawns loudly and sits up.

Loki tosses Tony the last piece of the power bar. "Here," he says as his companion catches it in mid-air. "I've already eaten mine."

Tony takes a large bite and swallows quickly, hand over his mouth for politeness. "How long have you been up for?"

"Not long." Loki muses. "I have been listening for the better part of an hour, and I have not been able to hear any trace of Frost giants." He gestures towards the closed off entrance.

Tony chews and swallows the remainder of his ration. "Good."

_Loki is still wary. He desperately wants to ask Stark about the kiss they shared, but he does not wish to break the fragile connection between them. He stands and reads his companions face. Tony is packing up his collection of parts, and Loki can see an ease of movement born of contentment. The Iron man grins to himself for a moment, and Loki can see his eyes are bright and intense. There is something else though... a subtle feeling rebounding off his own magic in Tony's body. Loki opens up the channel in his heart, not by using his magics, but simply by directing his thoughts inward. It is odd. There is a flutter when Tony looks at him and it resonates within his own chest. Loki can sense a lightness within his own body now, and Tony places a hand on his shoulder. The lightless from his chest rushes to his head, making him momentarily breathless. Tony is speaking to him now, and Loki reluctantly breaks contact._

"-stay here forever. What do you think?" Tony asks.

Loki takes a moment to gather himself. "Yes. Our food supplies are gone, we must press on quickly. But first, here," Loki bends down and hands Tony the bowl of water.

Tony takes the bowl from his hands, and tilts his head towards him. "To making it out of here in one piece!" Tony grins weakly and swallows most of the water. "Here, you finish it."

"I've already quenched my thirst Stark." He says with one hand politely raised.

Tony raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief. "Loki, you are the one and only chance we have of making it out of here. I can't have you passing out on me, again. And besides, its bad luck not to drink at a toast."

Loki huffs with nonchalance, but Stark practically shoves the bowl up to his lips. "Alright, as you wish then." Loki finishes the water, with the edge still warm from Stark's lips.

"Shall we be on our way now?" He says as he places the bowl in the bag and hands it to stark.

He rummages through the bag and pulls out his left gauntlet. Loki notices he has added a few long wires to the wrist link. "When did you-?"

"Last night, I don't usually sleep much anyways." Tony says as he takes off his shirt to expose the arc reactor.

"I did not feel you awaken." Loki blushes at the now half clothed Stark.

Tony slips on the gauntlet and holds the wires between his fingers. "I'm going to need your help with this. I've managed a way to bypass the flight stabilizer directly to my reactor, but I can't hold it and connect the wires at the same time. You have tiny hands right?"

Loki holds his hands up in demonstration. "Why does the size of my hands matter?"

He watches as the Iron man twists the reactor in his chest and pulls it out as far as the connective cord will allow. Loki is momentarily stunned at this show of vulnerability; here is the life source of his companion bared to the world.

"I need you to connect the red wire to the clip near the bottom of my reactor, and then the white one has to be secured at the bottom of the holding unit, here." Tony is pointing inside the silver tube imbedded in his chest. "Got it?"

Loki's hand trembles slightly as he reluctantly reaches for the shining star in Tony's hands. His hand stops and pulls away slightly just before he touches it. How could this man trust him so? Tony's very life would be in his hands, and he was balking at this intimate gesture. "Are you certain this is safe, Stark?" he looks into Tony's eyes pleadingly.

"Yes, its fine." Tony sighs softly. "Just try not to touch the sides of my tube with the wires." And as if Tony senses his hesitation, he takes Loki's hand in his own and places under his reactor before letting go himself. Loki is left holding the tiny burning star on his own. He notices how light it seems, and although the metal is cool to the touch, Loki can feel the burning spark of life though the glass-like housing. It is almost familiar to him, and he realises with a start that it feels very much like primal magics. This man has created a device that emits an energy so achingly close to ancient magic that Loki can almost feel it, like a river frozen over with ice. It is still there, still tangible, but just out of reach.

"This is...wondrous."Loki says with awe in his voice. He delicately rotates the device and takes the red wire from Tony's hand.

Tony shrugs. "That's nothing; you should see the new one I'm working on. I've altered the casing so it's more durable while maintain the energy output and weight ratio. Jarvis should have it finished back home by now."

Loki fixes the wire under the reactor base, and clips the slot closed. Tony takes the reactor from his hands, and passes him the white wire next. He takes it from Stark's hand and places his palm on Starks shoulder for balance.

"Are you sure-"

"Just do it already."

Loki nimbly reaches his hand inside Anthony's chest. Tony inhales sharply at his contact. "Ah! Your hands are freezing."

"Apologies Tony, I will try to be swift." His hand reaches the backing and he gropes for the slot. Tony snorts and Loki can see his chest muscles twitch under his skin. "Sorry." He murmurs. He runs one finger around the rim of the base plate trying to locate the tiny slot for the wire. Tony moans as he touches a node near the top."Please stop that." Loki looks up at Tony and sees his face blush to scarlet. "Its- gah- very sensitive."

"I have it, one moment more please." Loki wiggles the little wire in the slot and closes the tiny clip. As he pulls his hand from Anthony's chest his fingertips gently brush the sides of the metal cylinder wanting to continue the intimate contact. "It is finished."

Tony places the reactor back in his chest and fiddles with the wire leading to the glove until it sits right. As Loki watches his companion, he notices a deep ache in his chest. It burns inside him and pulls at his heart. He swallows deeply to hide his longing. "Was I successful?" Loki asks eyes downturned.

He watches Stark flex his fingers inside the glove. "Looks like. Good job Reindeer games" Tony says as he run's his hand through Loki's hair. "Hey, what wrong?" Tony cups his chin with his hand. Loki isn't able to form words, and the ache in his chest intensifies. He stops fighting against the pain and gives in, pulling Tony down to him. Loki embraces his companion and nuzzles his head alongside Tony's own. He freezes for a moment, stunned that he's given in to his own longings, when he feels stark's hand slide around his back, pulling him tight to his chest. Tony tilts his head alongside Loki's and he can feel the brush of stubble from Stark's cheeks.

"I am sorry." He whispers into Tony's ear, his voice heavy with loss.

"For what?" Tony asks as he holds him tight.

"Everything." He whimpers. And the ache in his heart twists again, making him wince.

Tony gently lifts Loki's head from his shoulder and brings it under his chin. Tony places his hands on either side of Loki's head and gently kisses his forehead. In a heartbeat the ache is gone, and Loki's entire body relaxes.

"Better?" Tony asks him.

Loki takes advantage of his companion being so close, and leans up to steal a kiss. Tony meets him half ways and-

Anthony's lips are soft and warm on his own, and he nudges at the corner of Loki's mouth, asking for permission. Loki obliges him and opens a little wider giving his companion access. A moan builds up from his chest and Tony takes it as a sign to press further. Loki runs his hands over Tony's chest while greedily meeting every advance Tony makes. Loki begins to feel light-headed as he melts into the Iron man's arms, and braces himself by wrapping his arms around Tony's neck. He lingers on his companions lips, tasting the sweetness on his tongue, and loses all train of thought.

"Now I feel better." Loki purrs and places one final kiss in the hollow of Anthony's throat.

"So do I." Tony says huskily. "As much as I would like to stay here, we don't really have the time to linger, let's go Frosty."

Loki reluctantly lets go of Tony and picks up his spear. "Alright." He sighs.

Tony picks a small capsule from the bag and hands it to him. "It's one of the heat generators. I thought you could use it. A genius always covers his ass."

"Much appreciated Stark." Loki tucks the capsule in a small pocket in his pants. He then chips away at the crushed ice blocking the passage, and carves out a small opening. He ducks outside and is hit with an aching cold, making his breath fog before him. The Iron man climbs out beside him and shivers "Damn that's brisk." Tony runs his hands together to warm them. "Should we wait for the sun to come up?"

Loki turns his head to his companion. "Unfortunately you might perish before then. The night is nearly continuous on this world." He watches Tony shrug and tie the nearly empty bag to a loop on his waistband.

"Lead the way." He says shivering against the cold. "God, I swear when I get home I am going to live in my sauna for a week."

Loki laughs softly, and ducks under the fallen wall. He steps with a quickened pace, enjoying the crunching his boots make on the thin top layer of snow. Loki turns to the left and walks in front of Tony down a narrow alleyway between two collapsed houses. He hopes to break through the maze of smaller buildings to reach the cathedral of ice, then down, down to the river of Iving, where he would journey to Stark's realm of Midgard_. _

_His mind begins to wander as he crosses the broken pieces of buildings and ice. Loki wishes he could simply use his magic to bring him back to earth, but before he would be able to complete the spell, the Frost giants would be upon them. And there was the matter of how he was pulled here in the first place. When Stark crashed into him, it did break his concentration, but the spell should have failed completely, not change his destination. Something here had pulled him back, something that was powerful enough to reach across space and time and drag him through the empty voids between the stars. Not many in the nine realms were powerful enough to engage in such a herculean feat of magic. At least, not on their own. Odin, Heimdall, or Laufey (had he still been alive) could have done it but why? Had his father finally found him on earth, and sentenced him to die upon this frozen world of pain and anguish for his crimes? Loki shakes his head to rid himself of these darks thoughts. He would not be trapped here, and he would not take his involuntary kidnapping lightly. Whatever was the cause Loki would eventually find it and destroy it._

Loki peers around a column of ice and his heart sinks in his chest. What he assumed from a distance was nothing more than a shadow from the mountain, was in fact a gaping maw in the glacier ahead of him. He stops dead in his tracks and snarls in frustration. The ragged gap between him and the cathedral tunnel is completely impassible.

"Aw hell. We're not gona climb down that." Tony groans beside him.

Loki seethes in anger. "By all the inconceivable- this is-" Loki stomps his foot and growls. "_Gamla lombungr, sugandi toti tik madr_!"

"Whoa, language little buddy." Stark is staring at him eyebrows raised. "Just tell me this isn't the only way outa here."

"No." Loki hisses hand clenched tight on his spear. "There is another way down to the depths. We must be cautious Stark, the Jotun's created this gap. They know we have no other choice now but to pass through the temple."

Stark looks at him defiantly. "So it's a trap then?" Loki nods.

"Then let's hit them first!" Tony says making a fist.

Loki glares at his companion. "We cannot take them down in a direct confrontation, Stark."

"Then let's be sneaky about it. Don't worry, I've got your back remember?" Tony places his hand on Loki's shoulder. "We'll be fine."

The ache twists in Loki's heart, and a dark sense of foreboding washes over him.

"I sincerely hope you are right."


	7. Connection, a Secret, Healing of wounds

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Chapter 7**

"**Connection, a Secret, and healing of wounds."**

Tony Stark heaved and pulled at the partly frozen door, stubbornly refusing to give up, even though he had yet to make to budge an inch. Loki was beside him chipping away the ice covering the hinges, still muttering in what Tony figured must have been Norse. He recognized a few worlds, mostly because whenever he and Thor went out drinking, the blond behemoth had a habit of singing in his native tongue after a few dozen beers. Loki swore darkly again beside him, frustrated with the lack of progress.

"Here, give me the spear for a while." Tony asked hoping it would stave off a Banner sized fit from the green god. Tony took the spear and jammed the butt of it on top of the keyhole, trying to shatter the lock. After a few good hits, he's rewarded with a satisfying crunch. He jams the point of the spear in the new gap and pushes it like a crowbar. The ancient wood squeals under his efforts, but sticks firm.

"Goddamn it, you open right now!" He says as he heaves on the spear. "Or I'll

_-Totally pass out in the snow, I'm so tired-_

chop you into little pieces and use you for toothpicks!"

"Are you indenting to mock the door to death?" Loki mutters sarcastically.

He growls and heaves with each word. "No, I Just." "Want." "It." "Open!"

"Here, let me try the lever, mortal." Loki shoves him out of the way, and Stark throws his hands up in frustration.

_ Fine! You get it!_ He thinks, but doesn't say. _The last few hours backtracking in freezing cold and wet snow, with Loki as riled up as a rabid wolf, have done absolute wonders for his temper._ _Ever since Loki did his magic trick and made him resistant to the cold, all his emotions have been at an 15 on a scale of one to 5. It's like having emotions for two. He's not mad, he' s smoulderingly angry. He's not scared, he's absolutely-panic-attack y-scared. And worst of all he's not just aroused at the slightest gesture, he's intoxicatingly blinded with desire. What his brain thinks he does. No filter, no hesitation, just "OOPS! you've just enraged a god who can do nasty things to you while you sleep. BAM! You're having a panic attack now and are completely and utterly helps, Enjoy! AND OH LOOK AT THIS! You've kissed Loki. The god of mischief from myth and legend himself. Twice. And Goddamned enjoyed every minute of it . Have fun sorting this all out Tony, I'm going to leave you here without an ounce of control !" well screw you too Brain, we're supposed to be a team here. When I get home I'm going to drown you in the most expensive bourbon I have until we can't feel anything at all._

Tony knows it's a bad sign he's narrating a conversation in his own head, with his own brain leaving him to boot, but he's past the point of caring. Instead, he watches Loki give an almighty yank on the spear, and the door bursts open.

"Finally." He sighs and kicks a piece of splintered wood out of his way to step through the ancient temple. Tony in his impatience nearly crashes face first into a cobbled wall. The room he's just stepped into is outrageously tiny, and he nearly snaps at Loki, telling him that he picked the wrong door, when he sees the steps leading down. Tony tilts his head up now, and sees a webbing of spiral joints. His genius brain quickly deduces that they've entered into a tower far above the main hall, and judging by the height of the exposed tower and the heavily reinforced stone, it was going to be a long walk down.

Loki has snuck up behind him, hand on his shoulder, and whispers in his ear. "Once we begin our decent, there is no turning back. Are you prepared?"

Tony shivers at Loki's words, and his emotions spiral wildly from anger to fear and then finally settle somewhere around caution... and empathy? Tony shakes his head to clear the flood of emotions that Loki's touch has brought on. "As ready as I'll ever be." He whispers back.

Loki squeezes his shoulder in an act of reassurance, and Tony is now overwhelmed with want for the god, and It takes everything he has not to turn around and pin Loki to the wall and... _nope. focus Tony, don't make it a third time, because you wouldn't want to stop-_

Tony lets Loki pass in front of him, and they follow the narrow stairs downwards as quietly as possible. He feels like he's going to owe Banner an apology if he ever makes it out of here alive._ I Wonder If this is what Bruce feels like all the time, the constant rush of emotions that are setting his mind to its most primal instincts. _ Tony runs his hand over the cool stone for balance, and takes in the rough design that is vaguely reminiscent of deeply veined marble. The dark grey majority of the colour is flecked with black so dark, that tony has to run his hand over pieces to make sure they are not holes in the stone itself. In regular intervals their are little rectangle alcoves carved into the walls. Most are empty, but as he progresses further down, Tony notices more and more are filled with tiny carved stones and some ordinate gold runes. He picks a little white one and rolls it along his fingers like a worry stone. A slanted "X" is carved into it, and Tony realizes its not stone at all, but polished bone. His curiosity engaged, he reaches for another stone at the next alcove. He picks up a round grey one and flips it over to see a "c" shape with both ends flicked away from the centre. He stops again at the following alcove and picks up one more. This time a roughly shaped gold one, with a little arrow carved into it. Loki stops ahead of him, and walks back up to where he is rolling the three runes in his hand.

"We do not have the luxury of examining every passing artifact, Stark." Loki whispers and Tony can hear a note of annoyance under his breath.

"Sorry." He replies softly. "It's in my nature." and he doesn't mention that rolling the runes in his hand is a good way of keeping him calm.

"What have you found then, anything useful?" Loki sighs and takes the runes from his hand. The spark of Loki's contact is back and Tony forces himself to breathe deeply.

"Gifu, Perth, and Tyr. An unusual collection Tony." Loki places them back in his hands and nods.

"What are these?" he questions.

"Hopefully good omens. Now if you are quite done sightseeing, we are nearing the bottom of the tower."

Tony places the runes in his pocket, and on some level he knows he must have picked up these runes for a reason. He really hopes that Loki is right about it being good, because he knows they'll need all the help they can get.

Soon, Tony can see the bottom of the stairs, and Loki is paused before a heavy stone door. Loki places his hands on one side of the slab and nods to him. Tony places his hands below Loki's and nods back.

_Are you ready?_

_Yes._

Together they strain on the the heavy door, and bit by bit they open it. Tony figures the door must weigh a few thousand pounds, and had he not been in the company of a god, all he would have been able to do is beat at it until his hands were bloody. Loki gives one more push and a narrow wedge opens, just enough for Loki to slip past. As Tony follows Loki through the tiny gap, he gets caught up when the door connects with the steel casing in his chest. The tube moves slightly in his body cavity and he can feel it push against his heart. He tries to push the door just a few more centimetres, and forces all the air from his lungs in an effort to free himself. Loki is beside him now, and Tony can see the strain in his face as he pushes the door with everything he has. Tony is pushing with his legs, back and arms in a vain attempt to free himself before he gives into the panic that is threatening to send him into another episode.

"Easy Anthony, I will have you freed in a moment"Loki dares to whisper as quietly as he can into his ear.

Tony nods and screws his eyes shut, trying his hardest not to panic. Loki adjust his hands right around his heaving chest and whispers again. "I am going to push your ribs down. Take one deep breath and let out as much air as you can. I will guide you through." Tony fanatically nods and sucks in a shaky breath, and then forces all the air he can from his body. Loki begins to push down achingly hard on his chest and he can feel his ribs moving, bending and slowly Loki is pulling him across the threshold. Tony makes it half ways before the urge to breathe is overpowering. He tries to suck in a breath but can't. Loki is holding his chest down with a near crushing force and wont let go. Tony tries to mouth the words for help, but Loki is steel-eyed in concentration, and refuses to let go. Tony can feel his diaphragm twitching in great wrenches trying to draw in air, and he is starting to see stars in his eyes. Loki gives one last tug and Tony falls free, landing on top of the little green god on the floor. He sucks in a great lungful of frigid air and gasps with relief. Loki holds him gently across his chest, waiting patiently for him to calm down. He goes limp and simply breathes to steady himself. Loki begins to caress his back, urging him quietly to slow his breathing down.

"I am sorry Anthony, there was no other way to free you." Loki murmurs to him. Tony breathes through his nose and attempts to sit up. Loki follows his movements, supporting him, and Tony blushes when he notices that he is straddling Loki's hips. "I know." he rasps, and tries to stand, when Loki catches his arm. Loki's bright emerald eyes lock onto his own, and Tony is frozen in place. He kneels there, stock still ,and watches as Loki examines his torn shirt. "A few scratches here, and I fear I may have bruised you quite badly." He Looks up to him and Tony can see that Loki is upset.

"I'd much rather have the bruises than be stuck in that door forever. Don't worry about it." The rush of passion is back, and all Tony craves is to be close to _his_ god and hold him , to feel his skin- _Whoa Tony! Not going there. Back wayyyyy up. That's just and lack of food and magic shenanigans talking..._

Tony plucks Loki's hand from his arm, and lifts himself off of the god's-

-_absolutely perfect-_

_-No! Bad Tony. No!- _

_ -_body. He stands he extends a hand and helps Loki to his feet. Tony can see that Loki's cheeks have tinted pink as well. Loki starts down the corridor with out so much as a backwards glance, and Tony follows him alongside the rigid wall of ice and stone. As they progress in silence, Tony notices that the hallway has begun to tilt downwards, so much in fact that by the time they reach a little door at the end of the hall, Tony has one foot braced against the wall for balance. He watches Loki listen intently at the door for a moment, before slowly opening it. Loki heads in first again and holds his arm out to help him from falling forward. Tony catches Loki's hand and then braces his feet against a railing of stone.

Loki has led him onto a walkway above the grand atrium in the heart of the temple. Tony awestruck at the sheer size of this great room. Four rows of enormous columns span from end to end, the outer two are nearly merged with the larger than life carvings on the walls, while the inner set, made from what Tony assumes is solid ice, lines the central walkway. He can make out the snarling faces of Frost giants depicted in the wall carvings, poised over dying and dead humans, gleefully striking them down. More are filled with scenes of horror and depravity, all with the Frost giants victim's withering in agony. Tony is deeply sickened at these horrible images, and he is glad that he is spared most of the details by coverings of ice and frost. The ceiling is also entirely covered over with ice, and the dripping icicles remind him of hundreds of teeth lining the mouth of some great monster. But by far the worst is the floor. All along the sides, under the stone carvings, are piles and piles of corpses and skeletons. Some are large with shreds of tattered armor, and some are just skeletons with rags hanging limply from broken bones. Tony can tell most of them are Frost giants, but there are a few pieces of Asgardian armor strewn over bodies. There is no order to their placement, no other signs of a battle. Its as if the Frost giants were not content with stone representations of pain and anguish, they needed to have real ones as well.

Tony lets go of Loki's hand, and grasps onto the railing in front of him. He can see a set of stairs that lead down to the main floor, and awkwardly makes his way towards it. He has to walk with one foot on the edge of the stairs and one foot on the rungs of the railing in order to make it down safely. Tony lines himself up to hit the left wall and pushes off of the last stair. He briefly stumbles, but manages to catch onto part of the closest wall carving. He turns to Loki who is waiting on the last step and waves him over with his gloved hand. Loki shakes his head.

_Come on Loki!_

_No._

Tony tries to wave him over again, but Loki is making frantic hand gestures ending with his finger over his lips.

_Come on! Its fine!_

_NO! Look ahead, and be quiet!_

And Tony turns ever so slightly and his heart drops to his stomach. Several Frost giants have gathered at the end of the atrium from a large gilded door at the end of the room. Tony slowly sinks down to his knees, and counts six of them. They are holding one of their own, a small one, on his knees before a stone alter. Tony makes a quick apology, and hides himself by carefully digging into the mass of corpses shoved against the wall. He moves an arm out of the way and wedges himself between a large pelvic bone and the upper body of a Frost giant. He places a rag over his head, to hide his face, but there is enough holes so that he can see. He looks back for Loki, who has managed to hide behind a large stature near the staircase.

A scream from the small giant catches Tony's attention, and he can see the four have pinned him to the table, while a fifth stands over him, spear in hand. The big one with the spear starts yelling in some guttural language, and then violently plunges the spear repeatedly into the smaller giant's body. Tony is revolted by this display of rage, and he screws his eyes shut until the screaming stops. There is a loud thump, and Tony sees the body of the small giant thrown against the wall with the other corpses. The other giants begin to laugh, and the big one with the with the spear lifts it above his head and jeers. Tony takes a quick glance back to Loki, and sees that the Asgardian hasn't moved an inch. Even from this distance, Tony can see Loki digging his hand into the stature, trying to contain himself. His eyes are closed and Tony can see his chest rising and falling quickly.

The big guy with the spear is yelling something else now, and the remaining giants stop laughing abruptly. Tony holds his breath, trying not to make a sound. His companion is not so fortunate. Tony saw the moment Loki's hand snaps off a piece of ice from the stature, and fall to the ground in a shattering crash. Tony is momentarily choked by a rush of fear and a flash of -

_He is laid bare on the altar, the coarse ropes digging into his wrists and ankles. He struggles against the pressure of a knife, cutting ragged lines into his arms. He screams but the Jotun's just laugh at his anguish. One of them takes a dagger and begins to cut his hair in rough clumps. As his hair is ripped away he cries, ashamed and terrified. Once his head is scraped bare, the Jotun plunges the knife beside his face, and he can see his reflection mirrored in it. Dark black stubble across his head, hollow cheeks of pale white, angry buses around his slender neck, and piercing green eye's wide with pain –_Loki's eyes/ HIS eyes./ _THEIR_ EYE'S.-

-And Tony is ripped from the memory with a pounding ache in his head, and he touches a hand to his nose to find a warm trickle of blood. In the seconds he was in the flashback, the Frost giants have ran to his position, and are throwing the corpses aside, looking for the source of the noise. He can see the big one about to throw the spear at _his _Loki, and Tony springs from his hiding place and blasts the giant with his repulsor. The Frost giant goes flying and Tony spins around to hit a charging giant full in the face. Another one swings both hands down in an attempt to crush him, but Loki is there and rams his spear right through the giant's heart with an angry howl. Loki kicks up at the dying giant to pull his spear free, and Tony is right beside him, hitting another giant across the hall with his repulsor blast. Loki frees his spear, and puts his back to Tony's. The giants charge them again, and Tony reaches for his last flare and shouts a warning before lobbing it high in the air. They duck to the ground as a white light fills the cavern, and together they attack the blinded giants. Loki weaves his way around the battlefield, hitting the giants with both fists and spear in a feral rage. Tony bashes the giants with his armoured hand and knocks them over with pulses from his central arc reactor.

"Don't let them touch you!" Loki yells while blocking a thrust from the spear carrying giant.

"Wasn't planning on it!" he retorts and ducts under a wild swing.

Tony has managed to knock out, if not kill one of the giants, and is engaged with a reckless brawl with one he has badly weakened. Tony hears another strangled yell, and knows that Loki has managed to kill his last opponent. He tries to sneak a glance at Loki, when he is ripped off his feet by a giant who is now crushing his leg. Upside down now, he tries to get a shot off, but misses. He yells as the giant squeezes his calf ,and his whole leg begins to burn with cold. Loki is underneath him in a flash and thrusts up with his spear, cutting the giant's arm clean off. Tony falls roughly to the floor and frantically tries to pull the vice grip from his burning leg. Loki quickly finishes off the last giant, and turns back to him.

Tony's leg and most of his torso are numb in seconds, and his hands are turning rapidly blue as he pries the grip off his leg. Loki jumps down beside him and tugs at the arm, breaking a few fingers to pull it off his leg. He gasps and part of his pant leg, frozen to the arm, comes away.

Underneath, Tony braces himself for white and red frostbite, but his skin is smooth and dark blue in colour.

"Oh...what?.." he murmurs, and when he raises his hands to his face, he can see the same dark blue seep from under his skin.  
"No!" He yelps and desperately tries to rub the continuously growing colour from his skin.

Loki attempts to wrestle his hands away from him.

"_Stark! _Calm down. It will pass!_" _Loki is holding his arms still, and Tony calms down enough to see that the Asgardian's hands are turning blue as well. He looks into Loki's eyes for an answer, and flinches when the blue works its way up Loki's neck, over his face and pools into his eyes. He watches Loki blink slowly, and when he opens his eyes, the light emerald has been replaced with a burning red.

"It is alright." Loki says in a soothing tone, and Tony rubs his watery eyes. He hangs his head and watches the colour bleed back into his skin. When he has composed himself he looks up again and he sees the blue colour drain from Loki's body as well. The god's eyes have also faded back to their original emerald hue.

Tony traces the ebbing blue colour from Loki's face. "What is this?"

The Asgardian's breath hitches. "My magic."

Tony shifts his feet so he is kneeling in front of the still siting Loki. "Loki, Just... tell me. Please."

"It is... what I am. A monster to be feared. These vile creatures are my kin."

"But why did I-"

"When I poured magic into you to keep you alive, that was _my_ magic, Frost giant magic." Loki sneers at the words. "I shared my form with your mortal body, and thus you are protected from all manner of cold. As I am. As they are." Loki stands up, and Tony follows him as they walk past the bodies. "I was born a runt, unfit to live even as a slave or pet. It is custom for the giants to abandon their weak and dying in temples such as this." Loki gestures towards the bodies heaped on the sides, and Tony can see a tiny skeleton hand, no bigger than an infant's sticking up among the wreckage.

"Loki, I'm so sorry." Tony says his voice heavy with sorrow.

"I do not require your pity Stark." he snarls, and his voice begins to break. "My _Father _found me here and stole me away from this place, to sit in my brother's _mighty_ shadow until he had use of me. I am a _monster._ I am a _toy_. I am a _puppet_. I AM NOTHING." He shouts and Tony watches the tears roll down the little god's face.

Tony cant stand seeing Loki like this any longer, and embraces him in a crushing hug. "YOU are not nothing!" Loki tries half-heartily to free himself from his embrace, but Tony refuses to let go. "You are the most powerful god I have ever seen, you survived the fall from the bifrost, you nearly crushed new-york, _which was ok, a bad thing but still,_ You stood up to the goddamned Hulk and lived to tell about it, You were the most complex and intelligent opponent I have ever faced. You saved me from freezing to death, and magic AND giants, talked me down from a panic attack, and... you survived what they did to you here Loki. I saw what happened, or part of it anyways. Back there I felt what they did to you, Hell I was you for a moment. No matter what they did, you survived, because you are strong, you have heart, and you did not give up." Loki is absolutely shaking with heaving sobs against him, and Tony just holds him for a moment. He begins in a quieter tone this time.

"When you saved me from the cold, you said you did it by making me like you right?" Loki nods against his chest. "I think I got more than your skin colour. I keep getting overwhelmed with fear whenever _you_ get scared, or anger whenever you are mad, and even... passion whenever you are close to me. It took me till now to figure out why, but it kinda makes sense. It's like a feedback loop." Loki has stopped crying and gazes up at him with emerald eyes shinning, and the faintest of smiles.

"I am sorry you had to experience part of my time here. I hope I did not cause you much strife." Loki says in a hushed voice.

"Its alright." He says and tucks a stray piece of Loki's hair behind his ear. "They can't hurt you anymore, I wont let them."

Loki tilts his head to follow Tony's hand, which has stopped just under his chin. "Thank you Anthony." he whispers, and leans towards him.

"For what?" Tony breathes, his lips achingly close to Loki's.

"For giving me a reason."


	8. The Shadow

**Authors note:** you guys are amazing! Thank you all for your continued support, it means a lot! Interesting note, the top 10 countries that read this story are in order from 1-10 are :

USA, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Australia, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Russia. Quite the interesting mix! =)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Chapter 8**

**"The shadow"**

"Tony, I have located a passable one" Loki calls to him, holding up a battered Asgardian shield. " It appears to be mostly cosmetic damage."

Tony takes the shield from Loki and flips it over, analyzing it. He is surprised how light it is in his hands. He spins the round shield and is satisfied with the balance. In the center he taps a domed metal spike with his finger. _Huh, sounds like iron. Too light for that though. Some alloy then._

Tony runs his hand over the crest image,a white stallion rearing on a blue background. Most of the paint has chipped away, but the design is embossed in the metal itself, so he is able to see the tiny stallion's eyes glaring at him in challenge.

"This will do, but there's no arm grip. Just the carry sling." He sighs and hands it back to the Asgardian. It really would have been a good one too. Pity.

Loki takes the shield and shows him the inside. "You are meant to grip here," He says and gestures to a flat wooden strip that runs across the center of the shield. It is entirely flush, except where the metal dome is hollowed out like a bowl on the inside. It is just big enough for Loki's hand to grip it.

"It's one handed?" he says and frowns. Now he wouldn't be able to brace his arm against it, and he was hoping to rely on the strength from his whole arm that way, not just his hand with this design.

"I though you would approve, since you would be able to use your gauntlet in battle as well."

"No, that's actually a good point."

Loki holds the shield in front of him. "You must practice with it, as to avoid injury to yourself. Take the grip."

"We don't have time for me to learn how to us it, its a shield! I've watched Steve do it, and I'm smarter than the guy by a few hundred IQ points. How hard can it be?"

"What if I am unable to get to you in the mist of battle? Your un-armored mortal body can not withstand a direct blow." Loki tilts his head down and raises an eyebrow at him disapprovingly. "Humor me, Stark."

Tony sighs and clenches his hand around the wooden grip, but Loki holds on to the edges.

"Now push me backwards."

"Alright" Tony says and thrusts forwards with his arm. Immediately there is a twinge in his wrist and and he tries to adjust for a more comfortable grip.

"Bend you arm more, but straighten out your wrist. The muscles in your shoulder and side should be used, not the lower arm."

Tony moves with Loki's advice. "I still feel like I'm going to dislocate my shoulder."

Loki takes a fighting stance in demonstration, feet apart and parallel to his hips. "Stand like this, and angle yourself to face me with your side."

Tony fixes his feet and hips, and pushes Loki again. This time it is much easier. "Ah, much better. Remind me to add some of these to the gym when we get home. I can't wait to get Happy to re-enact_ Gladiator_ with me."

Loki lets go of the shield, letting him take a few practice swings on his own.

"When _we_ get home?" Loki asks cautiously. The green god is looking him up and down, and Tony feels his emerald eyes burrowing into his brain, searching for answers.

"Yes when _we_ get home. You've saved my life, multiple times. The least I can do is offer you the couch. Although I should warn Jarvis first, He gets a little touchy when I bring guests in unannounced." Tony snorts a laugh. "Or Pepper. She's practically a mother bear guarding her den. I'm not even allowed to put up a painting with out her growling at me." he takes another practice swing, using the shield like a scythe.

"You would do this? Speak to her on my behalf?" Loki asks gingerly. Tony can here the familiar note of sadness creep into his voice again.

"Speak to yes. I also promise I will resist the urge to throw the couch pillows back at her. I've gotten very good at dodging them when she's angry." Tony uses the shield to block imaginary blows.

Loki takes a moment to ponder. "I will alter my appearance while I reside in your home." he states mater-of-factually.

"Sounds like a plan." Tony grunts and swings wide, catching the tip of Loki's fingers by accident.

Loki winces and shakes his hand.

"Oops, sorry about that. You ok?" Tony says sheepishly.

"I will be fine. You put too much of your weight into the swing however."

Tony shakes his head, and places the carry strap on. He fiddles with the placing until the shield is well balanced on his back.

"No more practice," he sighs. "I'm a quick study anyways."

"One moment more, Stark." Loki says and reaches for a dagger at his side. "_A genius always covers his ass _I believe you said." Loki flips it expertly and palms the silver blade, handing it to him hilt first.

"Shiny." Tony says admiring the little knife. "I shall call you Sting." he says playfully, and tucks it through a belt loop.

"Why would you _name_ it?" Loki asks thoroughly confused.

Tony shrugs. "It seems appropriate. Come on Frodo, let's continue though Mt Doom, shall we?"

"Gallows humor, Stark?" Loki shakes his head and opens the golden door at the end of the grand atrium.

"Whatever helps, Loki." He sighs and follows Loki down another long hallway.

As soon as Tony enters the dark, stone hall, goosebumps roll up his arms in reaction to the frigid air. A breeze ruffles his hair and Tony fusses to get it back in place. "Fortunately"his hair is still plastered with sweat from the fight, so it stays in place, mostly._ God I need a shower. And a toothbrush. Ick._

"Stark," Loki whispers. "Past this door is the tunnels of Yggdrasil. Do not wander from my side. The burrows change frequently, and we cannot afford-"

Tony cuts him off in a stage whisper. "I get it ok? I swear not to go sight seeing in the middle of an enemy stronghold laughably outgunned and out numbered. And besides I've almost done this before."

_Well technically I was breaking out not in, and I had a suit. Also they were just people with guns in the desert, not giants with magic on an alien planet. But otherwise totally the same._

Tony reaches the small wooden door and presses his ear up against it, listing intently for footsteps. Finding none, he motions to the Asgardian to pear through the tiny gap he's made in the door. Loki nods to him after a moment, and together they open the door and close it behind them.

Instead of more stone hallways, They've entered into a labyrinth of ragged tunnels in the glacier. The ice all around them is eerily dark. Stripes of blue and black weave through the ice, and Tony notices it has a glassy finish. He speculates that whatever made these tunnels did so by some source of heat. The floor is mostly level, due to the frozen melt-water byproduct of the tunnel making process. The only source of light radiates from large rough metal urns lining the burrows. They are propped up from the ground on a short tripod, and they appear not to hold flame, but a ball of blue light. The effect of the wavering light on the glossy walls is similar to a reflection of light from a pool.

Tony raises his eyebrows in comment. _Huh, interesting design. The power requirement to make this must have been enormous._

Loki waves him over to one of the middle tunnels.

_This way Stark._

He follows the god down the winding burrow, and out of caution, begins to take in his path in excruciating detail. He begins to make a map in his head of every offshoot, every unlit urn, and every distinguishing mark in the ice. Tony commits these to memory, saving a mental map of their path.

A low grumble echos off the wall starting him. He immediately presses his back against the wall and braces for an attack. He looks to Loki, who has taken a cautious stance, but Tony can see that he is listening intently. Tony motions with his hands palms out, questioning. Loki replies by making an arch with his hands, then interlocking his fingers together.

_What was that?_

_A tunnel has collapsed._

Tony mimes possible directions, but all Loki does is shrug, cup his ear with his hand, then shake his head.

_Where?_

_I do not know. The echos are misleading._

Tony frowns and points in the directions ahead of them, then taps his head with his fist.

_Is it safe?_

Loki grimaces and shrugs.

_I do not know._

Tony sighs and starts forward again. He keeps his attention focused for the minute sounds that would forward them of a collapse. Tony can see a large intersection ahead, and slows his pace to a crawl. Loki mimics him and together they crouch low against the wall and hide behind an urn. There are three Frost giants sitting in one of the offshoots to the East. Two have their backs turned, but one is leaned up against the wall.

_There is no way we'll get past the gap in time without him seeing us. _He mimes to Loki. The Asgardian ponders for a moment, then points to Tony's pocket, and draws a rune symbol. Loki pretends to throw a rune down the corridor, then points quickly down the hall north of them.

_Take a rune and throw it as hard as you can down the west hall. We will run down the north corridor when they are distracted._

Tony fishes the round grey rune with the cup design on it and weighs it in his hands. He makes a quick plea to lady luck, and lobs the little stone far down the west corridor. It makes a ringing chur-rup against the wall, and skips into an urn, knocking it over. Tony quickly presses up against Loki, pinning the god against the wall in an effort to create a smaller silhouette. He turns his head away from the giants and stares at the back wall, waiting for the three shadows that will tell him the coast is clear. He can hear the Frost giants leap to their feet and run, arguing in guttural voices towards the fallen urn. Tony watches the shadows of two of the giants go past and into the west corridor, but the third hesitates in the intersection. The two have reached the fallen urn and begin to squabble.

Tony's heart sinks as he notices the looming shadow of the last giant growing larger. He swears internally and he feels his face flush with the heat of adrenalin. Tony braces his feet against the ice floor, and twists his back slightly so the shield is pushing against the urn. The shadow of the giant fades against the wall, and Tony can hear the footsteps pause momentarily. One of the giants must have found the rune, and it sounded like it was calling to the one searching for them.

Tony has his arms wrapped around Loki's chest and he can actually feel the god's heartbeat fluttering like a trapped songbird. He gives Loki a little reassuring nudge with his fingertips, and tries to give off an air of confidence. The giant closest to them takes a few quiet steps closer, and Loki's heart skips a beat under his fingertips. The god's back arches slightly, and Tony holds him tight, in an effort to stop him from moving and giving their position away. The giant pauses again, and yells something to the squabbling pair and they stop fighting immediately.

Tony can feel Loki shudder in his arms, and there is a sudden force against his mind, intent on blinding him in white panic. He recognizes the colour and feel of Loki's fear, and he places his lips on the back of the Asgardian's neck in a quick kiss. Loki stills at his touch, and the panic ebbs just enough to give him control of his surroundings again. Together they hold their breath as the giant looms closer.

_Please, please, please don't come down this way. Just turn around and go down the hall..._

There is a sound of crackling frost, and Tony knows that the giant has made something from ice, just like the dagger that formed in the avalanche cave. He counts his heartbeats and waits for the giant to come as close as possible.

_I'm gonna get one shot for this, I have to time it perfect. One one-thousand... Two one-thousand... Three one-thousand..._

And just as the giant is almost on top of them, Tony pushes his back hard into the urn, while throwing Loki forward to get him out of harms way. Tony pile-drives the urn it right into the startled frost giant, and it howls as it catches fire. Quick as he can he rips the shield off his back, and bashes it into the burning giant, sending it sprawling. His arm recoils against the blow, and he uses the momentum to swing it into the gut of one of the other giants, who is swiping a frozen sword-of-an-arm at his head. He manages to duck, and he sees a flash of silver. The giant grunts as a dagger from Loki plunges deep into it's heart. Tony punches at the knee of the dying giant with his Iron man gauntlet and the creature buckles to the floor. He quickly finishes off the giant by smashing his shield into its head, and it sends a shock wave of pain up his arm.

Tony turns to see Loki use an underhanded thrust with his spear, swatting away the last giants hand, and quickly flips the spear around in one motion to ram the blunt end up under the giant's chin, breaking its jaw. It manages a choked growl and slashes at Loki, drawing its sword arm through leather and skin on Loki's exposed back. Tony is flooded with a flash of red pain in his mind, and charges recklessly at the monster, catching its sword arm with his shield before it lands another blow. The Ice sword cuts a grove in the shield rim, and It takes everything Tony has not to buckle under the unrelenting force the giant is pushing on him. All he can do is hope he gives Loki enough time to recover-

And his companion is beside him, tearing into the flesh of the giant in a frenzy of rage. Loki is a blur as he kicks, lunges and cuts the giant, forcing it into a submissive crouch. The arm of ice is torn from his shield, and Tony takes in a quick breath of relief as Loki plunges his spear into the giant, ending its weakening struggles against him. Tony looks to Loki, and finds his face frozen in a mask of fear and hatred. The god's eyes are clouded and dark, and his mouth is twisted with a ragged sneer. Tony can feel waves of anger roll off of the Asgardian, and for a moment he is absolutely terrified of the dark god before him.

Tony blanches as Loki steps towards him, blinded with pain and fury.

"Loki, no!" He whispers harshly.

The enraged god is deaf to his plea's and raises his spear with a twisted smile.

"Loki! Don't do this. Its me Tony. We got them all, its over!" Tony's hand twitches gripping the shield, and that triggers the god to attack him. Tony just manages to catch the point of Loki's spear with the shield. However the force behind it is so great, that Tony is pinned against the wall. Loki snarls at him, and pushes forward, causing Tony to loose his breath.

"Pathetic creature of flesh and bone, pain and suffering shall be your teachers. But _I _shall be your master." The green god hisses in his ear. Tony looks into the clouded eyes, and finds in them, only darkness.

"Goddamn it! It's me. Loki, STOP!" and Tony is rewarded with a flicker across the face of the god. It lasts for only a moment, then his free arm is immobilized against the wall. The god of rage closes the distance between them, So that Tony can feel his hot breath against his chin.

"So very weak..." He whispers and tilts his head, drawing his teeth over Tony's throat in an almost playful manner. "You will not last long." the god murmurs, lightly nipping near Tony's jugular vein. "Pity."

Tony twits his neck out of the god's reach. "Loki... please don't." he gasps. The god cringes for a moment, and Tony tries to press further to reach his companion. "This isn't what you want, its what they want. What they did to you." Tony can feel the red and black of rage waver in his mind from the Asgardian. "Loki, its ok. You're safe. I wont let them get you, I promise. Just fight it." The Asgardian's face contorts with pain, and he shakes his head.

Tony, left with no options left, does the only thing he can think of. He leans in and kisses the struggling god.

He meets with resistance, but presses forward, intent on calming the beast within Loki's mind. Slowly he can feel the god's body relax, and in a heartbeat, Loki is right there, returning his kiss with one full of passion and urgency. The spear and shield drop to the floor, and Tony fully embraces his companion. For a moment all the world falls away around them. A deep yearning roots itself in Tony's chest an his heart aches with a feeling he cant name. Regrettably he pulls away for a breath, and notices that Loki's eyes have regained his bright emerald hue.

He cups Loki's chin with his and and rolls his thumb over his cheek. "Are you ok?" He asks lightly.

Loki rubs his eyes clear with the cloth around his gauntlets. "I don't know. After I was injured I..." Loki's breath hitches for a moment. "I felt so very far away. Like I was merely a passenger in my own body, watching it do terrible things that I could not stop." Loki claps his hand in his own. "I do not seem to be able to control my emotions, and I have caused you pain because of it."

"I know that wasn't you." Tony whispers into Loki's ear. "If someone had dragged me back to the hellhole i was imprisoned in, I would have gone totally crazy too." Loki pales at his worlds, and he frantically backpedals. "what I mean is I understand ok?" Loki nods and Tony squeezes his hand in re-assurance. "Come on buddy, Lets get outa here before anyone else sees the mess we made."

Loki steps over the bodies of the frost giants, and bends down to pry something from a hand. "It was indeed a good omen." He smiles and hands him the little "Perth" rune. Tony pockets it and adjust the shield over his shoulder.

Loki takes the lead again, and although he is trying to put on an air of calm, Tony can see right through him. He begins to worry If they'll make it out of here in one piece. Or sane.

Tony keeps a close eye on Loki as they wander the burrows. He is still unnerved at the sudden and drastic change Loki undertook. _I really hope its just lack of sleep, food, and pretty much re-living hell. I don't know if I could handle another episode. His eyes... its like he checked out completely, and something else took over._

Tony and Loki manage to wind deeper down the burrows, and he notices a faint weaving of light in the ice in the walls. The little lines remind him of tree roots, or blood vessels, branching out in thin lines. The farther they travel, the more prominent they are.

Loki stops ahead of him just on the rim of an open door. Tony peeks around the corner, and looks inside the room. The large hollow room has an uneven floor, and several large icicles are scattered on the ceiling. Tony can see a ragged doorway to the north of the room, and and an extra wide one to the north east. Loki mimes to the north east door, and walks against the east wall. Tony follows close behind, nimbly dodging the cracks in the floor. Loki reaches for the door frame-

With a sickening crunch a hidden slab of ice crashes down, nearly taking Loki's hand with it. Tony immediately jumps for the door they came in, but with another bone jarring crunch, a slab of ice blocks his path. Whirling around he runs for the last exit, and is nearly taken off his feet with a blow to the head. Several Frost giants run into the room, and a large heavily armored one blocks the remaining door. Tony stumbles to his feet, and equips his shield just in time to block a heavy blow from an ice blade. He grunts under the strain, and blasts the giants chest, sending it sprawling into the wall. Something shockingly cold splashes on his back, and he turns to catch a quick glimpse of Loki, face drawn tight in fury, fighting off three of the giants at once. Tony dives under a giants legs, and jumps in front of Loki, just as a giant tries to grab him. Instead, the enraged giant catches his shield, and uses it to fling him across the room. Tony smashes painfully into a large icicle, and together it crashes to the ground. He is stunned for a moment, and the giant that threw him winds up for a kick. Tony rolls to the side and fires his repulsor at the ceiling, knocking free an icicle that impales the giant.

Tony's heart freezes when he hears Loki yell, and he drunkenly throws himself at the giant who is intent on breaking his companion's arm arm. He repeatably bashes his shield into the giants torso, until it drops Loki on the floor. The Asgardian makes up for his pain, by swinging his spear like a baseball bat and breaking the giants wrist. Stumbling backwards, its foot gets caught in a crevasse in the floor and Tony hears a _crack _of breaking bone. Pressing his momentary advantage, Tony hits the fallen giant with a charged blast from his repulsor. It slams the giant into the floor, and thankfully it does not get up again. Tony takes a second to breathe, before charging a blast at a giants legs, hoping to knock it to the ground where he can deal with it.

Suddenly he is taken off his feet and pinned to the floor with a massive hand. The giant winds up for a blow that will crush his skull, and Tony flicks his fingers, sending all the energy from his gauntlet to his chest piece. The resulting blast _obliterates_ most of the giant, scattering pieces everywhere. Tony struggles to free himself from the gore. He manages a dizzy stand, and sees Loki finish off his last opponent by beheading him. Growling like an animal Loki charges the armored giant blocking the door with an overhanded thrust, aiming for a gap in the armor under the arms. The giant is quick and blocks Loki's thrust with his sword arm of ice, and pushes Loki back with the force of the blow.

Tony hefts the weight of the shield in his hand, and throws it Captain America style, aiming for the head. _Thanks for the idea Steve._

The Giant cleaves through half shield, and there is an ear deafening squeal of twisting metal. Loki uses its distraction to bury a dagger under its exposed arm, and pulls down with a snarl. The giant howls in pain, and Tony in turn, takes his own dagger, and tosses it to Loki, who then finishes of the giant buy silting its throat.

"They_ know_ where we are!" Loki growls, his eyes taking on a dark cloud again. "The River Iving is not far. We must make it there before they do!" Loki takes off in a dead run, and Tony follows as fast as he can.

Loki runs recklessly down the burrows, taking turns so quickly that Tony nearly looses him twice. They run straight past several hollering giants, but Loki barrels through them and continues. "Keep running Stark!"

Loki takes a sharp turn to the east, and the ground drops sharply, sending Loki and him sliding down the tunnel at breakneck speeds. Tony crashes into an urn, sending it straight into the path of the giants sliding down behind them. His foil bag is torn from his hip in the collision, and there is a full two seconds before a loud _WHOOMF! _Echo's off the walls.

_Yes! Got them with the last flare -_

And Tony is brought to a crashing halt against an ice wall that is absolutely glowing with the silver ribbons of light. Loki is yanking him to his feet, and down another corridor, and Tony realizes they are following the trail of light. He also can feel the pounding footsteps of way to many giants behind them, and tries to run faster. Loki suddenly takes a turn to the west and quickly throws him into the large room. Loki is yelling frantically in Norse, and Tony watches as the door way is covered with a solid wall of ice. Loki finishes just in time to catch a giants arm in the doorway, freezing it solid. There is a great howl, and multiple blows begin to rain down on the magic door, sending spiderweb cracks through it.

"Get UP Stark!" Loki says hauling him to his feet again, and pulls him down a short row of columns to the edge of the floor. Tony balks at the sight.

A good forty feet below them is a raging river. White rapids and angry currents crash against one another, sending spray over the walls, before sinking down in a swirling vortex of pure wild energy. The water flashes with harsh bright lights, that collide with the currents, and send plumes of water and what looks like lightning, in all directions.

"We must jump!" Loki shouts to him over the roar of the churning river.

"Are you kidding? That's a meat grinder, we'll die!" he yells back.

"We'll die if we stay _here_ much longer!" Loki hollers, and points to the door, breaking under the strain of multiple blows.

"Trust me!" Loki pleads to him, and Tony looks into his companions eyes, bright with pain and longing.

Tony takes his partner's outstretched hand and intertwines his fingers with Loki's. "I already do."

Loki gives him a small but beautiful smile, and Tony's heart aches with the sight of it. "Ready?" he asks, and Loki nods, raising their hands together. "On three." they step to the edge.

"One." Loki squeezes his hand sharply.

"Two." Tony sends a quick smile back to be re-assuring.

"THREE!" and together they launch off the ledge just as the door breaks behind them. The raging water rushes up to devourer them and-

_In a flash of silver magic, freezes completely solid._

Before he can think Tony hits the solid ice, and his legs crumple beneath him, one with a sicking crunch. He screams in agony, and is blinded by fiery pain. He clutches his right leg in instinct, realizes he's touching his own shinbone, and gags. Loki is also shouting with pain, and Tony sees that he is impaled by his shoulder on a spear of ice. Loki writhes and struggles to break off the tip to free himself, and Tony is trying to hold on to a shred of consciousness, fighting against the darkness that is threatening to swallow him whole.

There is several loud thumps, and Tony can see the Frost giants land without injury around them. Totally helpless, he watches as Loki is torn from the ice with an startled cry, and roughly shoved to his knees by two of the giants. There is a rough hand on his shoulder, and he to is forced onto his knees, sending nauseating amounts of pain wracking thorough his body. He cant help himself and cries out in agony.

There is a louder thump, and Tony's vision begins to blur. One of the giants yanks his head back, and an unusually large form comes into focus. The Frost giant before him looks like its dead. Ribs protrude from an empty gut, and a skeleton hand reaches for Loki. Tony can see the creature smile, teeth showing through gaping holes in its cheek. A wave of rotting flesh wafts over him, and Tony looses control of his stomach. The creature scowls at him, and the hand on his head tightens to a vice like grip.

The creature roughly catches Loki's face in its skeleton hand, and twits his neck cruelly, to force Loki to look at him. It begins to speak, with a voice that sounds like its choking on blood. And somehow, Tony can understand it.

"Do you recognize me like this, Asgardian?" It growls, and digs its claw into Loki's face, drawing blood from his cheeks. Tony see's Loki's eyes are round with terror, and flashes of pain and torment dart in his mind.

Loki cries out at the touch of the creature and it continues in a horse whisper.

"Welcome home little prince." the creature says and begins to howl with cruel laughter. The wave of terror from Loki floods him mind completely, and Tony surrenders himself to the darkness.

_And in his dreamlike state, he screams, and screams against the shadow that looms over him._


	9. Lingering in a nightmare

**Artist's warning:** Heads up this chapter involves a scene of torture. I've tried to blur it a little, to soften the blow. And remember "the night is always darkest, just before the dawn" I do promise that the next instalment in this series will not be as dark. I felt this trial of suffering would give them a bond together. And soon you'll be able to see them as a true couple back on earth. Thank-you for holding on a little longer. =)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Chapter 9**

"**Lingering in a nightmare"**

_Tony is surrounded by clouds of darkness. He blindly stumbles forward, searching for a way out. His leg is caught on something, he looks down, searching for a reason. The world around him blurs, and he is in his Iron man suit now, in his garage. His leg is caught by Jarvis's metal arm. It pries and pulls, intent on wrenching the metal from his body. He tries to push the machine away, but he's moving so slow, and its hard to see here. More metal arms are clutching at his head, his arms, his legs, all pulling, all crushing. He cant fight them all. His vision is fading with his strength._

_The metal arm around his leg pulls free his suit's skin, and digs into his flesh, intent on pealing away skin and muscle both. He cant move. He cant scream. He cant see anything. Just the feeling of crushing hands all over his body, and the claw tears out a piece of muscle and -_

Tony fades into reality, disoriented and half conscious. He can feel the metal arm digging into his leg, relentless in its task of tearing flesh from bone, and he lunges to try to fight it off. He is met with resistance, and he struggles with another arm, this one trying to push him down. He manages a choked cry, and feebly clutches the arm holding him down. There is a sound humming in his ears, and it begins to sharpen, sending him into a dizzy spell. He coughs and tastes copper in his mouth. The sound intensifies with his struggles, and he begins to listen to it.

Something is familiar here, the voice is soothing to him. He relaxes his arms, and lets go of the hand on his chest. Tony rolls his head from side to side, trying to shake the fog from his brain. A cool hand runs over his fevered brow, and he moans at the touch, wanting more.

His body is hot and achy, and His leg feels like it's being torn to pieces. Tony scrunches up his eyes and blinks repeatedly, trying to see the source of his pain. Everything is bathed in white light, except a shadow leaning over him. He concentrates on the blurry form, and it slowly comes into focus.

The cool hand on his head moves down to his cheek, and Tony can feel fingertips trace down his brow and around his eye. He reaches for the hand, and clutches it to his face. It is soft, but Tony can feel strength behind the gentle caress. He groans again, and tries to focus. _He must stay awake. _

The voice of the shadow speaks to him in flowing words.

"Anthony... please come back."

Tony strains against the lingering fog of the nightmare and tries to speak. He manages a strangled grunt.

"Anthony, can you hear me?" The voice has a high note in it now. W_orry _he thinks.

Tony struggles fully out of his wakening nightmare with a gasp, and his vision swims. He closes his eyes until the vertigo passes, and as it ebbs, he opens his eyes to the world.

Loki is sitting beside him, his cool hand still over his cheek. The god's face is contorted with grief, and his eyes are red and swollen. There are tiny ragged cuts all across his neck and bare chest, and Tony nearly blacks out again when he notices a large round wound of torn muscle tissue over his collarbone. Loki's naked torso is also covered in a handful of bruises, most over his stomach.

"Wha.. H'pend" Tony slurs, trying to sit up.

"Lie still Tony." Loki whispers, his voice cracking in sorrow.

"No. I want... sit me up."

"You cant move!" Loki says and Tony can hear him sob briefly. "I've tired to heal you, but your leg, it is _broken_."

Tony tilts his head up and finds Loki's boots are on his feet, and his right leg has green strips wound tightly around it. His muscles in his feet twitch, sending a wave of agony though his leg.

"Yes. That would be a yes. Really, really broken." he grits through clenched teeth.

"I tied to set your leg while you were unconscious, so you would not feel it." Loki says and tucks his knees under his chin.

"Your shirt?" Tony questions, pointing to the green strips wound up from his ankle to knee. Loki nods. "and where are my shoes?"

Loki's eyes dart quickly and Tony can tell he's trying to hide something. "I had no other choice. Your shoes would not fit me, and my boots were the only bracing we had."

Tony flashes a strained smile at his companion. "You did good Loki."

Loki's eyes begin to water at his words of kindness. He gives Tony the tiniest of smiles in return, and rubs his eyes clear.

Tony cranes his neck around, trying to get his barrings. They are in a tiny cell of ice, enclosed on every side except the front, where rough bars of tarnished metal line the opening. There is a small door to the right, but the hinges are on the opposite side. _Damn. _

There is a bucket in one corner, and aside from that, nothing else is inside their cell. No beds, no food and no water.

"What happened?' Tony asks exhaustively. "What was that _Thing_that attacked us? It sure as hell wasn't a Frost giant."

Loki's entire body stiffens, and Tony watches his face fade into a tight mask of fear. Shadows deepen across his face, and for a moment Loki looks at him like a cowering child. Tony gropes for Loki's hand, and clutches it tightly. "Its ok... you don't have to say anything buddy." He runs his thumb over Loki's fingers, trying to ease the tension in them.

"He..." Loki swallows hard. "_It _was my father. Laufey. The one who pulled us here with his old magic. But he was DEAD! I killed him-" Loki chokes on his words. " I killed him on Asgard. Turned him to ice and scattered the pieces." He gives a short deranged laugh. "But apparently it was not enough. He is a _god _after all!" Loki begins to giggle manically.

Tony is struck with fear for himself, and Loki's state of mind. "Loki, stop that." He snorts, and with great effort, heaves himself into a sitting position. He embraces his shaking partner, and Loki clings to him for dear life. Tony stays like that for a while, just holding Loki and caressing him until he begins to calm down.

"We will make it out of here alive." Tony says in a firm tone.

"You can not possibly know-"

"Say it!" Tony commands.

"There is no way-"

"Goddamn it Loki!" He shouts, and pulls Loki's face to his. He stares into his companions eyes with all the courage and strength he can muster.

"We WILL make it out of here alive! Say it Loki!"

Loki looks into his eyes and Tony can see flickers of fear, anger, then finally hope flash across his face. Loki stares at him, and nearly breaks his heart when he speaks.

"_For you._" He whispers in Tony's ear. "I will make it out of here, for you Anthony."

"Alive. You are not going to leave my side, understand?" he murmurs.

Loki nods. "Now I have a reason to continue. I do not wish to end this before it begins." and Loki pulls him into a slow kiss. Tony is lost in Loki's arms as the world falls away around them. An ache of sorrow and joy twists in his heart, and he is filled to the brim with emotions so strong, he has no choice but to give in to them. His passion builds, and his body says the words that are caught in his throat.

_I love you, Loki._

There is a loud smash, and a door at the end of the corridor swings open. Tony pulls back from Loki, but refuses to let go of his companions hand.

"Whatever happens-" he says quickly.

"Stay strong Tony. Do not give in-" Loki interjects, and before he can say anything else, a pair of frost giants is at their door, carrying metal rods with collars fixed to the ends. Tony blanches with terror as one of them fumbles with the lock, and opens the door. They rush into the cell, rods pointed at them, and charge froward. The bigger of the two goes for Loki, who attempts to stand, but the collar is clamped around his neck before he can move. Loki's hand is torn from his own as the big one thrusts Loki backwards, hanging him in the air. Loki starts to choke, and Tony snarls like an animal, and tries to fight to his partners side. The smaller giant laughs at him, and clamps the ice cold collar around his neck. It bites into his skin as he is lifted to his feet, and hauled towards the door.

"NO!" Loki cries, holding his body up to collar in an attempt to speak. "Take _me_ instead! He is of no use to you! Cowards! Monsters!" The big one shoves him roughly against the ice wall hard enough to chip it.

"Loki! I'll be ok-" he screams as the giant pushes him forward, dragging him along on his broken leg. The pain is so great that Tony nearly vomits when he is forced to walk. He bites the inside of his cheek and holds onto his collar, trying to take the weight off. He is forced out of the cell, and he sees the big one give Loki one last push backwards before it releases the control rod, and slams the door in Loki's face.

"Nooooo!" Loki howls in anguish and pounds on the door with his hands.

Tony is pushed and dragged down the tunnel, each step making him cry out in pain. He is forced through the hall, and around a corner. By then he is hardly able to walk, so one of the giants simply picks him up and throws him over his shoulder like a toy. The collar comes off, and Tony struggles to stay conscious as they move through the maze of tunnels.

After too many steps to count, the enter a large chamber. Columns line the rounded room, and as Tony is flung to the ground, he sees a large stone throne in the middle of the room. Sitting on is is the creature from his nightmare, the one who attacked them, Loki's "Father". _Laufey._

A crown of clawed metal sits atop a rotting head. Laufey's eyes are clouded and wreathed with the silver tint of magic. Pockets of decaying flesh and dark patches of mould cover most of its skin. There is a large bandage wrapped around its waist that is horrendously stained, and when the creature breathes, Tony can see the outline of its lungs through it. The smell of rotting flesh burns into his nose and makes his eyes water. It raises its skeleton hand, and it speaks to him in a voice like the death rattle of a dying animal.

"Pathetic... broken mortal..." It wheezes and sniffs the air. "Why is the stench of god-magic upon you?"

_I don't even want to guess how it's speaking in a body like that, let alone speaking in a language I understand. _

_Doesn't matter what it says though, I'm not going to play this game. _He fumes internally. Instead he braces himself for the inevitable blow and turns on full tilt sarcasm mode. "I haven't had a shower in days, Its not my fault there isn't a decent hotel here. And from the smell of it, you should have one first."

The creature snarls at him, and one of his guards backhands him wickedly. Tony spits blood on the ice, and he moans as he realizes two of his teeth have cracked.

"Answer me mortal, while I still see fit to keep you alive." It growl at him.

Tony screws his eyes shut in an attempt to steady himself.

"Go fuck yourself." he says and spits at the creatures feet.

Whatever the creature expected, it certainly was not that. It lunges for him with an enraged growl, and wraps its hands around his neck. It squeezes hard, and lifts him off his feet. Tony frantically tries to get a handhold for air, but the creature shakes him like a rag doll until he is weakly clinging on for dear life.

"I _WILL_ KNOW how this feat was accomplished !" The dying monster screams in his face, and tightens its grip. Tony's vision begins to swim. "HOW? How are you _god-touched_ and still alive mortal?"

A familiar cool sensation begins to spread from his neck, and works its way in waves over his body. Tony recognizes the tingling dizzy sensation of Loki's magic coursing through him. His body grows cold, and when the wave rushes over his head, he can taste mint on his tongue. He watches the last of his skin on his fingertips turn blue, and frantically digs into the creatures rotting arm with his borrowed strength.

It shouts in surprise and flings him against the wall. Tony crumples as he hits the floor, and greedily takes a fresh breath of air.

"Bring me Loki!" It commands, and two guards go running past. It turns to him, and sneers. "and water for the mortal. I believe he has requested a bath.''

Tony is left on the floor, sides heaving in exhaustion. He watches the dying god limp back to its' throne, as two giants return with a large basin of water, and place it on a stone table. One of them picks him up and holds him standing in from of the basin. Tony's heart is racing, and he's starting to take in quick gasps of air.

_NONONONONO! I cant have an attack now. God-damn it!_ His heart skips a beat, and he clutches his chest, fighting against his own body as hard as he can.

There is a commotion behind him, and he sees Loki being forced into the chamber. The collar rod is clamped around his neck, and he's trying to tear it off every step of the way. Loki is forced to his knees beside Tony but immediately jumps back up to try to attack his captor. Tony lunges too, but before he gets more than a step, he is caught by his guard, and shoved headfirst into the water basin.

Tony struggles violently, losing the little air he managed to take before being plunged. He tears at the giant hand weighing him down in blinding rage, and he is shoved deeper in to the basin as a result. The ice water touches his shoulders, and his stomach is being pressed hard into the stone table. His heart skips a beat again, setting off the attack he's tried so hard to resist. Tony has the mind of an animal, kicking, punching, and claws at anything he can reach. He is so desperate for a breath now, that he repeatedly smashes his head against the bottom of the bin, trying to gain any amount of momentum so he can twist up to breathe.

_Cant fight- oh god- _

Tony's diaphragm contracts reflexively, and he sucks up a mouthful of water against his will. He chokes underwater, and inhales.

Suddenly his head is thrown backwards, and he surfaces at last. Tony coughs and wheezes, snorting water out of his nose, but he still cant get a good breath. He gags, and manages to take in a sip of air. The tiny breath sets off a chain reaction, and he is trapped in a circle of suffocation.

_-cant get enough air to get water out but need more air..-_

Something slaps him on the back, and the strength of it forces the water from his lungs. At last he takes in a reedy breath. Now Tony cares about nothing else except filling his lungs with air. He's struggling with his own body to much to even spend the energy to speak.

Laufey gestures to him and speaks. "Behave little prince, or I will have your _pet_ drowned while you watch."

Loki is frothing in anger. He is on his knees again and straining to stay still. The God's face is frozen in a ferocious snarl, and his eyes are possessed with the darkness of insanity. A deep rumble works through his companion's chest, and Loki _growls _like a frenzied animal.

"Enough cur!" the creature yells at Loki. "If you tell me how you altered this mortal's spirit, I will let you live."

"I will not give you the answers you seek, you poisonous curse upon dying flesh" Loki spits. "How much longer can you cling to this insignificant shred of life? Tell me how you rot where you stand. Tell me of the agony of the half-life you live." Loki says with a lust for vengeance that startles Tony. "If you suffer I would have it increased upon you tenfold, a hundred fold, until you writhe in the dirt before me as a worm, begging me to end your existence once more." Loki finishes, breathing heavily.

"So be it, little _prince_ of Asgard." the creature says, using his title as an insult. "I admit, I did not think you would kill your pet so willingly." The dying god tilts his head, and Tony is plunged into the water. Loki screams for him to stop, and Tony can hear him screaming still, as he is pushed deeper into the basin. Tony fights hard, but the hand holding him will not budge.

There is so little left in him, he is so utterly hollow now... He tries again, lungs hurting for air, but his hands wont work anymore... They just stop moving, and Tony Stark begins to die.

_There is this odd feeling, like he's having a nightmare where he is being chased by some horrible monster. Like that empty feeling that he gets when it tears into his heart as it gets closer. He is unable to move, unable to wake up. The bright water fades around him to dark purple, then grey, and at last black. He tries one last time, because he doesn't want Loki to be alone anymore, he never even got to say goodbye to his lo-_

_Anthony Edward Stark, dies._

_For a moment in time, he has no heartbeat, no breath. He simply IS. He floats in the space between space and dreams. He dreams of his mother and father. He dreams of Pepper, ever at his side. He dreams things that are not his. He dreams of Loki and Thor, their mother and father. He dreams across the endless pattern of ALL their lives, experiencing things as they do. He lives their lives beside them, watching and remembering. There is no fear in him any longer, no pain, no doubt. He watches, and finally understands. He simply is._

_But there is something now. A familiar feeling. Cold, like snow falling gently upon his body. This feeling is full of comfort and love. It takes root in his heart, and blossoms into a beautiful sensation. An emerald green ribbon of magic unfurls from his chest, and his heart swells with emotion and thought. He is wanted, He is loved. The cool magics work their way thought his body, touching brain, heart, lungs. He can see the magics warming him, and it fills him with colour, and at last... _

_Life._

Tony Stark utters a strangled cry as he is dragged back into the world of the living. Loki is kneeling over him, one hand over his heart, and one hand over his head. Loki is crying, and Tony is confused. He opens his mouth to speak, to console his companion, but no sound comes out. Puzzled Tony ties to lift his hand. He wants to bring it to Loki's face, to wipe away the endless stream of tears that are pouring down, but all he manages to do is twitch his fingers.

Loki immediately reaches for his hand and clutches it to his chest.

"Anthony!" He weeps. "say something! please let me know you can hear me!"

Tony mouths the words he is too tired to speak.

_I was lost. But you found me. _And tony manages the tiniest of smiles.

Loki sobs with relief, and manages to smile back through his tears.

"How entertaining." Laufey interrupts, looming over them. " And so very fortunate that he lives after all. Is the mortal your bed-mate _Asgardian? _Or simply a toy to be used and broken to your will? Ether way he is of use to me now. Be a good boy and he will not come to harm." Loki glowers at the creature with all the hate he can muster. "Oh you do learn quickly after all, little prince. Keep that silver'd tongue behind your teeth except when it is asked of you, and I will resist the urge to rip it from your mouth." Laufey emphasizes the last threat by grasping Loki's chin in his hand and squeezing it hard. Loki's mouth is forced open, and Tony is helpless to watch as Laufey draws a small silver knife from his side.

"You remember this one don't you?" Laufey says as he brings the knife point to Loki's lips. "It belonged to the last soul who inhabited this body. It shaved the hair from your head. And cut, oh so deliciously deep, into your soft flesh." Laufey laughs and draws a line across Loki's bottom lip, drawing blood. "See, _it _remembers! And how It hungers to taste you again."

Tony manages a choked sound, and Laufey frowns at him. "Take the pet back to its cell."

Rough hands lift him up, and he is thrown over a shoulder again. On the way out he watches in vain, as Laufey continues to torments his partner. "The two of us have much to discuss, and I do not care for an audience." the creature smiles wickedly at him, before returning to Loki.

Tony tries so hard to stay conscious on the way back to his cell. All he can think about is Loki, trapped alone with that monster. But what could he do? He can barely move, his leg is shattered, and he cant even manage the energy to lift his head.

He is thrown into his cell, and his rag-doll form slides against the far wall. The giants locks the door behind him, and he is left alone.

Tony manages to roll over on his back where the pain from his broken leg is lessened. He lies there, silent tears rolling down his cheeks, and weeps for his partner. At some point he cries himself to sleep, and ebbs in and out of dreaming for hours.

Much, much later, the door to his cell swings open, and something lands with a crunch near him. Tony focuses enough that he can see the bloodied form of Loki crawl on his stomach towards him. His companion manages to pull himself beside him, and then wraps one arm around his chest.

Loki snuggles up as close as he can, wanting comfort and the connection that he shares with Tony.

Tony twists so he is facing Loki, and he can smell the coppery tin of blood on his companions ragged breath.

_All they can do, is hold one another, and hope. The last words they spoke to one another echo in his mind._

"_We WILL make it out of here alive! Say it Loki!"_

_Loki looks into his eyes and Tony can see flickers of fear, anger, then finally hope flash across his face. Loki stares at him, and nearly breaks his heart when he speaks._

"_For you." He whispers in Tony's ear. "I will make it out of here, for you Anthony."_

"_Alive. You are not going to leave my side, understand?" he murmurs._


	10. Interlude

**Accompanying music:** When it is mentioned, I highly recommend listing to "String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor 'Rosamunde', D. 804: I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo . First movement" as you read. (you fans of the Avengers movie will recognize it instantly) (it is also best played quietly)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations, Or any classical music pieces by Schubert. I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Special thanks: ** to ,LaNaturalBreezeOf-Books, Cara-Tanaka, Lizzie, Salenastarzz, Vespren, Jay j beatbox, and H. Lokidottir for their reviews! Extra thanks to Maia2 for her paragraph review. Shakespear42, you were the only one to get my reference to Henry v in "Bright metal on a sullen ground" and such a heartfelt review too!

Super special thanks to Serenity Cas, BrandyGold, and Kerttu for being absolutely amazing and so encouraging

**Authors**** note:**This chapter is a treat for everyone for being so good! enjoy! =3

**Chapter 10**

"**Interlude"**

Three days. For three days he was brought to Laufey's chamber and forced to share his most intimate magics. And for three days he is punished for his failures.

_Laufey cannot posses my magic, no-mater what he tries. He thinks it is just a form of Jotun magic, and his assumptions will be his downfall._

Loki's mind wanders as he strokes the hair on his companion's sleeping head.

_The creature is dying quickly, for it's god-spirit will destroy a mortal body if it inhabits one. He will die again and again as each new host body rots from the inside. What Laufey fails to understand is that it is not just MY magic at work. I could never have altered Tony's from without help._

Loki's hands wander to the dim light of his companion's chest-piece. _Arc reactor_. He corrects himself. S_uch a marvelous device, and so much power contained within._

His hands trace a gentle circle around the reactor, but Tony does not wake. Tony has not woken up for the last day and a half.

_He was in far to much pain. _Loki tries to convince himself that putting Anthony in a lasting sleep was the best for him. At least this way, Tony cannot feel his injuries. Loki always keeps a close watch, looking for any sign that Tony is uncomfortable, and tends to his needs as best as he can.

_A ribbon of green flickers across his minds eye._ Loki smiles at his partner.

"Having a good dream are you?" he whispers softly, and continues to gently stroke Tony's hair.

Loki realized last night that he is sensitive to Tony in this magic'd state. He can feel when he is upset, or in pain, but Loki can also tell when he is content or even in bliss.

"May I join you?" he asks softly and sends a tendril of his magic, and touches the Iron man's mind.

_Tony is dreaming of him, again. _Loki chuckles softly to himself and blends into Anthony's dream.

_Loki enters Tony's mind, and feels the dream world around him take shape. He cautiously opens his eyes to a white cloud. Tony's mind begins to mold the world around him, creating high walls, floor to ceiling windows, and an enormous hall filled with hundreds of people. He waits with curiosity and admiration as the scene begins._

Tony has called up an image of a grand castle ballroom.

The walls are high, and the ceiling is lit with hundreds of candles flickering atop guided chandeliers. One end of the ballroom has large windows open to the cool night air, and Loki can see several guests leaning against a stone balcony. As he descends a long flight of stairs, running his hand along the carved banister, a string quartet begins to play.

The large room is filled with classical music. _Schubert. _he plucks the name of the piece from Tony's mind. _Rosamunde, A minor._ Loki lets his mind wander over the music. It flows around the great hall, weaving a story with its hauntingly beautiful melody. There is a note of intrigue and adventure in the song as well, and it sounds just like the sort of music Tony would pick for him to listen to.

The light babble of voices reaches his ears and as he steps onto the main floor. Weaving around the dancers, he looks for Tony. The hundreds of guests that mingle on the marble floor are dressed in the finest of clothes and Loki notices that the style of their outfits are somewhere around the early 19th century. The ladies are in many-layered jewel coloured evening gowns, and the men in luxuriant suits with long tailcoats. Loki walks among the guests, and as the music begins its chorus, he finds his companion. Loki takes a moment to appreciate the stunningly handsome man in front of him.

Tony is dressed in an immaculately cut dark brown suit. The thin lapels, frame his broad chest perfectly, and he leaves the coat undone. Underneath he wears a tight fitting vest with a high neckline, and a white collared shirt. An little amber coloured tie and pocket square complement the warm tones in Tony's eyes. Loki notices the tiny gold pin in on his tie as an image of stag on it, and he smiles knowing Tony chose it as a nod to Loki's helmet.

Tony is standing with his hands in his pockets, gazing out over the crowd. He notices Loki at last, and smiles.

"Hello Loki." He calls softly.

_He has called up everything from a time long past, but still keeps a piece of himself here. _Loki muses. _It i_s_ his dream after all._ He sighs.

"Sneakers, Anthony?" He grins and gestures to Tony's odd choice of footwear.

"More comfortable than the dress shoes you have on." he replies raising an eyebrow.

Loki chuckles. "Very true." He looks down and sees the formal wear Tony's mind has supplied for him. He is wearing crisp black pants and a white collared shirt pushed up just past his elbows. His double breasted green silk vest is embroidered with gold threads to match the little hand carved buttons. _tiny gears, a nod to his companion_. Loki chuckles at this. He reaches for his tiny green tie and adjusts it. His hands trail back down a thin green and gold scarf. _Very elegant Anthony. Thank-you._

The cascading music reaches a dramatic point, and Tony tilts his head appreciatively.

Loki enjoys the flood of delightful emotions from his companion, and savors Tony's contentment like a sweet wine.

Loki extends his hand. "Would you care to dance?" he says, and bows politely.

Tony clasps his outstretched hand. "I would be honored." he nods.

Loki leads his partner onto the dance floor, and stops in the center of a beautiful mosaic of a sun and moon . He raises his right arm, and places it firmly on his companion's upper back. Tony places his arm on top of his , and rests it gently on the curve of his shoulder. Loki clasps his left hand around Tony's right, and leads his dance partner in a few close steps.

"I have to admit, I'm not a terrific dancer." Tony blushes as he stumbles slightly.

Loki pulls him a little closer. "Then we shall have to practice more, my dear."

Tony's sneakers squeak on the marble floor as he tries to catch up to Loki. "Sorry."

"Its alright Tony, just follow my lead." Loki pushes his right foot forward, and Tony lifts his backward. "Good." Loki praises him, and moves his own foot back. Tony mimics him perfectly and pushes his foot forwards.

"Now to the side." Loki leads and Tony follows in step with him now. Together they manage a box step, Loki's flourishes making up for Tony's somewhat awkward rhythm.

"Much better Tony." Loki smiles to his dance partner. "You are learning quickly."

Tony gives him a friendly smirk. "What if I'm just pretending to be a bad dancer, to get you to move a little closer?"

"Are you now?" Loki says as he leans forward and places his hand on Tony's hip for a dive. Tony grins and lets Loki take his weight as he is dipped low to the floor. Tony manages to slide his leg up Loki's during the lunge, and he smiles when Loki's breath catches.

Loki raises his partner back up from the dip, and brings him in close. Tony wraps his arm around him and nuzzle's his head on Loki's shoulder.

"This is better." Tony sighs happily.

Loki leads Tony forwards and backwards over the dance floor. His rhythm improving, he takes Tony's head from his shoulder and stares into his shimmering amber eyes. "I wish to look upon you as we dance together, Anthony."

Tony looks at him with a hunger in his eyes, and Loki blushes at the intimate stare.

"God, you're beautiful Loki." Tony whispers in his ear as they continue to dance.

"I am a god." he chuckles softly.

"And you're _mine_." Tony says possessively and tilts his head so it touches Loki's.

"Oh yes." he purrs, and lowers his hand to the small of Tony's back. "And _you_ are mine." he punctuates the gesture by running his fingertips over Stark's waistband. Tony's breath hitches and Loki plants a light kiss on his partner's lips. Tony, distracted, immediately misses another step, but Loki catches him before he falls out of rhythm.

Tony pouts at him. "I'm the one who's supposed to be doing that."

Loki leads his partner in a small circle. "Don't tell me the great Tony Stark has never been wooed."

"Wooed?" he snorts. "You are so old fashioned. That isn't wooing, that's playing with me in front of hundreds of guests."

"You don't _want _me to tease you?"Loki whispers in Tony's ear, and hooks his thumb into Tony's pant loop.

Tony emits a small groan, and Loki pulls his partner close. "I could stop." Loki says and strokes small circles near Tony's waist with his fingers. "But the question is, would you want me to?"

Loki looks into his companions eyes and sees that they are bright with lust. "Outside." Tony pants huskily in his ear. _"Now."_

Loki grins and holds his companion firm on the dance floor. "But we have not even finished our dance!"

Loki missteps forward on purpose, and presses his thigh against the fly of Tony's dress pants. Tony moans softly, and Loki can feel though the thin cotton how aroused his partner is.

"Loki, please stop that." he pants. "people are beginning to stare. We can continue this _elsewhere_."

"As you wish my dear." he says and stops dancing.

"Thank-you." Tony breathes, his voice heavy with need.

Loki entwines his hand with Stark's and they weave through the crowd effortlessly to the balcony. When the cool night air washes over them at last, Loki frowns. _There are too many people here._

"This way Tony," Loki says, and leads him down the balcony stars to a cobbled path. The music begins to fade, and Tony halts for a moment.

"Where are you taking me?" Tony whispers, eyebrow cocked in questioning.

"Somewhere special." He says with a wink.

Loki takes Stark around an ordinate babbling fountain, carved with cherubs flying though the air. He hears hooves bounce off the cobblestone, and watches as a little horse drawn carriage saunters down the path ahead of them. Loki presses Tony up against the fountain rim, to give room for the driver and horse, and takes the opportunity to steal another kiss from his partner. Tony responds in earnest, but Loki puts a finger to his lips.

"Not here Anthony." he murmurs.

Tony gives him a frustrated glare. "You are officially being a tease Loki."

Loki raises an eyebrow suggestively. "A little further Tony. I promise It will be worth the wait."

"It better." Tony grumbles, and Loki laughs as he leads him down off the path, and into a small forest. Loki weaves in and out of the trees, thankful that Tony has chosen a full moon on this dream night.

In a moment of spontaneity He decides to make Tony chase him. He drops his partner's hand and runs for the nearest tree. Loki giggles like a guilty child and watches Tony's confusion.

"What on earth are you doing?" Tony laughs.

"Playing a game..." Loki flirts. Letting his hand run seductively along a tree branch. "Catch me Tony!" He says with a wink and runs to the next tree.

Tony wrestles with his jacket and throws it on the floor. "And what do I get when I win?" Tony yells and chases after him.

"Whatever you want, dear lover." Loki calls back, and spins around a fallen log. He can actually see the different possibilities play over Tony's face as he thinks. The last one makes him grin like a Cheshire cat.

"You're going to regret saying that!" Tony says and lunges for him, but Loki steps daintily away.

"Tisk-tisk, you have a very _dirty_ mind Stark." Loki says mischievously and runs ahead against a birch tree.

"I've had a lot of practice!" Tony says and his hands swipe the empty air where Loki was a moment ago.

"And if you don't catch me, _I _get to do whatever I want _to you_!" Loki says with a pretend sinister growl.

Tony whorls around the tree, but before he can catch him, Loki disappears with shimmer of magic. Tony's momentum carries him forward and he trips over a tree root.

Loki has transported himself on a low branch of a nearby tree, and swings his feet as he speaks. "Oh, you almost had me that time too. Pity."

Tony dusts himself off. "I meant to do that." he fumbles, and then he looks up and realizes what what Loki did. "You sneaky cheating bugger. No fair using magic!"

"If I had let you catch me, you would have _ravished_ me on the spot!" Loki pouts.

"You're damn right I would have, now come down from there!"Tony calls to him.

"Not until you admit I won." Loki teases him, and crosses his legs on the branch.

Tony groans, while he thinks it over, then sighs when he realizes he cant win. "Fine, you win. But your surprise better be good!"

"Oh it is," Loki says as he lands softly on the ground. He takes Tony's hand in his own, and walks his lover the rest of the way down the path.

At last the gentle lap of waves on shore announces his arrival at the intended destination.

"You fox!" Tony snorts when he sees the high dock overlooking the lake. "I knew it! You are such a hopeless romantic."

Loki begins to unbutton his vest and drops it in the sand. He slips the scarf from his neck, bends down to untie his shoes.

Tony pipes up. "Here? In the sand?" he whines.

"_I _am going swimming, would you care to join me?" Loki purrs.

Tony immediately tears off his jacket, and kicks off his shoes. "I haven't gone skinny dipping in _ages_!" he smiles.

Loki places his shirt and pants on top of his shoes and socks, and Tony, now stark naked, winds his arm's around Loki's waist and slowly undoes the zipper of his dress pants. Loki can feel the warmth in his partners hands as he slowly undresses him. Tony's hands roam over the waistband of his underwear, and Loki moans as his partner slips his hands underneath to cup him.

Loki's heart thunders in his ears, and he hardens as his partner winds his fingers delicately over his most sensitive places. Tony breaks contact, just long enough to tear the last stitch of clothing from him, and Loki is being slowly pushed backwards into the water by the force of Tony's kisses. Loki braces himself, by trailing one hand along the dock posts, and the other hand wound in this lover's hair. The cool water reaches his waist, and Loki is pushed up against a beam from the dock. Tony's hands wander over his body in a hurried fashion, but Loki will not stand for this. He uses the tiniest bit of his god-like strength to catch both of Tony's hands and pin them together with one of his.

"Hey, what are you- mfff!" Tony is cut off, as Loki smothers his pouting lips with a kiss. Now Tony is the one thrust back against the pillar.

"You're." Kiss. "Cheating." Kiss. "Again." Tony huffs at him, and Loki grins with passion.

"I _will_ have you, Stark." Loki growls playfully, and nips the hollow of Tony's throat. "After all, I did win our chase."

Tony gasps as Loki's teeth graze his skin. Tony tries to wiggle his arms out of Loki's grasp, but Loki refuses to let go. Loki presses his growing need against his lover and grinds his hips, making Tony cry out.

"Do you not wish to relinquish control, just for one night?" Loki hums and skillfully begins to stroke his partner.

Tony pants and screws his eyes shut at Loki's touch. "So sensitive..." Loki gives him a playfully squeeze, making Tony's hips buck.

"Goddamn it, I never catch. Now let me go!" Tony whines, and Loki continues to hold him immobile.

"_Never_?" Loki purrs into his ear, and deftly traces his fingertips along his lover's painfully hard need. "I shall be the first to claim you then."

Loki slips his hand under Stark, and gently works a finger into his partner. Tony is virginaly tight, and Loki hungrily kisses him as he waits for Stark to relax. The water acts as a natural lubricant, and Loki adds a second finger to the first, making his lover moan for him.

"_More." _Tony begs and crushed his hips against Loki's.

Loki enjoys seeing his lover squirm with his touch, and begins to move his digits within Tony. "I thought you wanted to be in control?" Loki murmurers in Tony's ear, as he delightfully twists inside him. Tony responds by wrapping his legs around Loki's waist and pulling him closer. "I want you." He pants.

"I couldn't hear that." Loki teases and adds a third finger to the knuckle. Tony is blinded with desire now, and he struggles again to escape Loki's grasp.

"I want you, I need you Loki. _Please_!" Tony begs, and Loki obliges him. He removes his hand, causing a whine from Tony, and lifts his lovers hips with his free hand. He aligns himself with Tony's entrance and pauses there.

"_Loki..._"Tony whimpers in his ear. Loki catches his partners mouth with his own, and slowly pushes into him.

Tony gasps and Loki stops for a moment, to make sure he is not injuring his partner. Tony moans deliciously, and then winces slightly as Loki continues to move into him. Loki thrusts himself entirely into Tony and gives him time to adjust to his presence.

"_So good..."_ Tony blubbers, nearly past the point of forming coherent words. Loki feels his partner's body relax around his member, and he gently pulls half way out before thrusting up again. Tony mewls in need, and Loki sets up a rhythm in time with the waves. Loki rocks into his lover with care, and a fire begins to build in his belly.

"_faster." _Tony whines, and Loki quickens his pace. Tony is pushing forward with his own hips, eagerly meeting Loki's advances.

"So demanding, Anthony..."Loki releases Tony's hands to get a better grip on his lovers waist. Immediately, Tony digs his hands into Loki's back, pulling him hard against his body.

Loki jerks his hips up in a rough thrust, and Tony groans in pure pleasure. "You enjoy this treatment, lover?" Loki breathes between heavy kisses. His partner manages a garbles _yes_ and Loki rutts into him again and again.

Tony is becoming frantic with need and Loki reaches down to stroke him to release. The heat in his lover's body is building and Loki can feel his own release so agonizingly close. Tony is gasping in short breath's and Loki takes particular delight in catching each needy breath with a smoldering kiss.

"_Almost."_ Tony's body contracts around him. _"Harder. please, Loki."_

Loki angles his hips forward, hitting Tony's sweet spot. A few deep thrusts and Tony comes for him with a roar. Tony takes his mouth in a lingering kiss as Loki reaches his own climax, and his breath hitches as he empties into his lover. Loki finishes with a few slow thrusts, before pulling out completely. Tony is nearly Limp against his body now, and just breathes against him for a moment. His partner looks at him Loki is lost in his amber eyes.

"That was delicious..." Tony murmurs. "I'm going to need you do do that again, and_ soon_."

Loki holds his lover against his chest, and nuzzles under his chin.

"Ready again so quickly, Stark?" he says and playfully nibbles his earlobe. "Why can't we simply play together?"

"Because you are a ridiculous tease Loki, and I want a chance to feel _you_."

"Perhaps next time." Loki sighs, and the world begins to fade around him.

_His time in this sweet dream-world is coming to an end._

Loki plants one last kiss on Tony's lips, and gently fades from his lovers dream.

_I have languished in your mind long enough Anthony. You must rest now. _

Loki sends his feelings of love and contentment like a blanket to warm his partner's body.

_Sleep, lover. Sleep and regain your strength. _

Loki dulls the connection between them, and he is transported back to cold reality.

"_Thank you._" He whispers, and runs his fingers through Tony's hair. "_For the lovely dream_."


	11. With your love, I'll never be alone

**Author's warning:** scene of torture, and violence. Heartstrings will be pulled for good and bad. Tissue boxes may be needed. This will be probably the "darkest" chapter I will ever write, but it is also going to be one of the more uplifting emotional ones too. So please keep an open mind, I promise the sun will rise for both of them!

**Author's**** note:** chapter title challenge again! who knows what the quote is from?"

**Artists notes:** I have used passages from the "13 moon prayers for Frigga's handmaidens", and altered them slightly to fit the situation.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations. I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Chapter 11**

**"With your love, I'll never be alone."**

"AGAIN!" Laufey snarls, and strikes him to the ground. There is a burst of pain in his jaw, and Loki knows it has finally cracked. His sides heaving, Loki struggles to his feet. One of the guards halls him up, and pushes him to the table where the body of his last effort lies.

"Bring in another!" The rotting god demands, and the dead Jotun is thrown off the table. A new "volunteer" is tied down in its place. "Do not fail me again, Loki. My patience is at an end!"

Loki, utterly exhausted, braces himself over the table. "My magic is empty.." he pleads.

_I can not do this again, I will not. The monster is nearly dead, I just have to bide my time a little longer._

"_LIAR!" _Laufey roars and takes Loki's head and smacks it on the stone altar. There is a sickening crunch and he cant hold back a scream as his jaw is broken.

Laufey roughly takes his hand and pins it to the bound Jotun. The creature squeezes his already shattered wrist and the bones grind together in white hot agony. Loki begins to sob, ashamed that he can no longer put up a pretence against this torment.

"Again..." the decaying god growls.

Loki calls up his dwindling magic, and speaks the words of binding and change. _So little left, but If I am careful, I should have enough to continue Tony's sleep._

Warm blood pools in his mouth and he gags._ Did I do the right thing? If I heal myself, I condemn Tony to death. But when I expend my magic to heal him, there is not enough left to heal myself. And with out me, he will surely die._

This self debilitating spiral has gone on for the five days he and Tony have been captives.

_He cannot survive without me, but I cannot survive much longer healing him. _

Loki has kept his companion clinging to life. With no food or water, Loki could only scrape ice from the walls, and melt it in his hands for Stark and himself. He tried refusing to work unless his partner got some sort of sustenance and water, and that's when his wrist was broken. When Laufey threatened to do worse to Tony, Loki broke.

Steeling himself, Loki takes the smallest bit of his remaining magic and forces it into the bound Jotun's body. The Frost giant immediately begins to howl, and Loki pushes further, seeking the creatures heart. If he can just reach it, Laufey will have his new host at last. But it will not work. It will never work.

_The only reason I was able to change Tony to accept a part of my god-spirit, was that I did not do it without aid. Tony's own spirit was already altered from his reactor. The device keeping him alive is emitting an aura close to primal magics. His spirit is saturated with it. It is the only reason I could get the bonding to work. _

_These heartless monsters_ _will never hold Laufey's god-spirit. The only possible hosts are myself, or..._

Loki closes his train of though violently. He cannot afford to dwell any longer. As his magic touches the heart of the Jotun, its body spasms and froth flies from its mouth. "no.." He begs, and tries again. The Jotun screams and Loki can feel its body begin to burn from the inside out. "no, no no.."Loki repeats the mantra over the death rattle of the dying Jotun. He is still babbling when Laufey rips him away from the body, tossing him to the side.

"YOU USELESS, WEAK, RUNT OF A CREATURE! YOU ARE UNWORTHY OF YOUR OWN LIFE!"the dying god snarls and beats him with every word. Loki is a sobbing mess, unable to defend himself from Laufey's heavy blows. He is beaten within a sliver of consciousness, and Laufey shakes him like a doll to rouse him.

"What are you keeping from me runt? How does your companion yet live, while my kin die by the score?" He shakes him again, demanding an answer. Loki weakly grasps the hand around his throat, trying to ease the pressure against him. He cant help but think of his partner, and Laufey catches his flickering eyes.

"That's it..." the dying god says.

"No!" Loki begs.

"Yes! That is the missing piece!"

"Please, no!" he whimpers.

Laufey laughs wickedly. "I would have taken your body if you failed again, but I did not wish to expend most of my life subduing your spirit. Instead,I shall keep you as a pet." Laufey drops him to the ground, and presses his rotting leg on Loki's chest. "How far will you go to keep your companion alive? Even when he is just a shell that I posses, you will still care for him, still heal him, and in doing so keep me alive as well! Bring in the mortal!" Laufey cheers, and passes him on to another Jotun. A cold metal collar is forced on him, and Loki is brought to face the stone altar.

Loki growls in one last act of defiance. "YOU WILL NOT HAVE HIM!"

Laufey's face splits in a ragged grin. "Still have some fight left in you, runt?"

"please, take me in his place! I'll do anything..." Loki pleads.

"Yes you will do anything. What a perfect torment, the everlasting pain of watching your bed-mate fade slowly before your eyes. And to know, in your heart, that your are helpless to save him."

Loki's heart stops as Tony is carried into the room. "_Let him go! PLEASE!_" he sobs and struggles against his bonds.

Tony is thrown onto the table and his head bounces off the stone, waking him. He moans in agony and confusion, and Loki can see his eyes roll.

"Tie him down."

"No! You monsters! I'm the one you want, leave him be!" Loki is struck by Laufey, and he coughs up blood onto the ice.

Tony tries feebly to resist the bonds, and when the knot is tied around his broken leg, he screams into consciousness.

Loki in a moment of pure desperation, strains against his bonds and touches the hand on Tony's skin. He pours every single last drop of his magic into his partner, hoping it will be enough to keep Laufey away.

A moment is frozen in time, and Loki connects to Tony's mind.

"_Tony I'm so sorry!" Loki cries and holds on to the mental image of his companion._

"_whats happening to me?" Tony asks, voice wavering._

"_Laufey, he means to posses your body. With it he cannot die. YOU MUST FIGHT HIM!" Loki clutches Tony tight to his chest afraid to let him go. "I've given you all my magic, can you feel it?"_

_Tony embraces him, and rests his head under Loki's chin. "Yes.. Loki it's beautiful.." _

_. Loki watches as his partners eyes are flooded with green light._

The connection falters as Loki is being torn away.

"_I don't have much time Anthony! Use this to help fight him." Loki taps the reactor in Tony's chest. "Use my magic and yours and you may be able to stop him!"_

Loki is wrenched away, but scrambles for another grip.

"_Tony, I lo-" Loki starts, but Tony cuts him off with a sweet and tearful kiss._

"_Save it for when we get out of here ok? But if anything should happen-"_

"_Tony No!"_

"_Loki listen to me!"_

"_No don't say it!"_

"_Please, tell Pepper.. Tell pepper that I never would never be the man I am today, with out her, and... I'll be ok."_

"_Tony..."_

"_And give my best to Bruce, Steve, Natasha, Clint and _

_your brother. Tell them they'll have to look out for each other now."_

"_Stop!"_

"_Loki the hardest thing to do in this world is to let go."_

"_Anthony please, I've just found you, you cant leave me!"_

"_And should the worst come to pass, Promise me you'll be able to carry on."_

"_please don't"_

"_Loki... be brave, and live... For me."_

_Tony places one last kiss on his lips._

"_Goodbye Loki. See you on the other side."_

_Loki watches his lover fade back into nothingness._

"NO!" Loki screams as he is forced to his knees.

"Make him watch!" Laufey growls, and Loki's head is pulled back by a large hand.

The dying god looms over his partners body. It pulls the silver knife from its belt and slices Tony's shirt away. Loki screams in vain as the god continues to cut the rest of the clothes off, and Tony is laid bare on the table.

Tony's feverish eyes lock onto Loki's.

_Stay with me?_

Loki keeps his partners gaze and ties to show everything in his eyes.

_I promise. I'll be right here Anthony, be strong._

The decaying god reaches its clawed hand to Tony's reactor. "This is what strengthens you mortal, isn't it?" It digs its claws around the reactor and begins to pull.

Tony grits his teeth, and pure terror glazes over his eyes.

_Loki, help me!_

Loki strains forward, but the hands hold him firm.

_Look at me Tony! Keep your eyes with me!_

Laufey pulls the reactor from Tony's chest with a horrendous squealing of metal on metal. It takes the knife and slices the umbilical cord attaching Tony to his live-saving device.

Tony's body bucks on the table, and he begins to hyperventilate. "Such a fragile thing..." Laufey says and raises the reactor to Tony's face. "Know that your end came at the hands of Laufey, god of Jotunheim!" and the decaying god crushes Tony's reactor in his skeletal fist.

Tony blanches at the sight and his eyes roll back in his head before he closes them.

Loki's mind shatters with the reactor, and he lets out a long, anguished howl.

The dying god tosses his companions broken device at his feet. Loki loses all control and gives into the darkness that swallows him whole. He is an animal now, growling, snapping, clawing, with no regard to his injuries, he attacks anything he can touch. It takes several Jotuns to get him under control.

Laufey laughs at his struggles, and brings the knife to its own bandaged belly. It cuts the rotting cloth away, and the creature's organs spill out on the floor in a gushing purple wave. It then reaches under its ribcage and clasps its black heart with one hand. The other, bearing the knife, cuts the strings of magic and flesh that bind Laufey to its corpse. The dying god tears its heart out of its body.

It swirls with silver magics, and it continues to beat with loud thumps in the creatures hand. The shell of Laufey struggles to raise its arm, and pushes its evil god-heart into Tony's chest tube. The shell falls to the ground, well and truly dead.

Immediately Tony's body tears at his restraints, and the silver of Laufey's magic and the green of Loki's clash around his companions heart. The struggle is brief, and a silver shadow emerges from Laufey's heart inside Tony. It forms a shadow over his body and pours into his eyes and mouth. Tony's scream is cut off abruptly, and his whole body slumps against the stone altar.

I takes a moment, but Tony regains consciousness. He opens his eyes, and Loki watches in horror as the beautiful amber colour is smothered in silver.

_It did not work. I am so sorry, I tried so hard... please forgive me Tony._

The _thing_ blinking its eyes on the table is no-longer his companion.

"**Release me..."** it commands in Laufey's voice and the other Jotuns cut the ropes from its arms and legs.

"**This mortal body is damaged." **It says in a cruel parody of Tony's voice. **"Bring me a healing stone, while my "pet" regains its strength." **

Tony/Laufey swings its bare legs over the altar and reaches for his face. Loki recoils at the tainted touch of his former companion. **"Look at me runt," **it says and holds his broken jaw, making Loki cry out. **"You belong to me now." **Tony/Laufey's face contorts into a manic smile.

Loki uses the physical connection to try and reach Tony.

_The body before him is choked with silver magic. Loki frantically searches for any sign of his companion, calling Tony's name over and over again._

"**He can not hear you, runt."**Loki pales at Tony/Laufey's words. Somehow Laufey found the link from him to Tony, and is using it. **"Put my pet back in its cage, I grow weary of its presence."**

Loki looks into those piercing cruel eyes, and finds nothing left of his Anthony. No spark of brilliance, no crinkle of the brow when he laughs, no natural curiosity about the world around him. He is just the shell that Laufey possesses.

Loki is well and truly broken.

_I had a few days with Tony and one beautiful dream that was only in our minds, and it all was for nothing._

Completely placid, he lets the Jotuns march him down the hallway. His Tony is gone, His _reason_ is gone. He puts up no fight and does not move when he is tossed into his cell like a discarded toy.

Loki curls up in a ball and weeps for his lost love. He cries for hours, unable to move, and so utterly lost in his own mind. Eventually his ragged body succumbs to exhaustion and he passes into an uneasy dream.

...

_Loki is a small child, walking down the halls of his home in Asgard. He is searching for something... no someone. This person is important to him, Loki needs him. But he is gone. _

_A flicker of light catches his attention._

There is a little ball of warm amber light, hovering at his eye level. Little Loki tries to catch it, but it flies up out of his reach. He climbs up onto a chair, then onto a table, but the shining amber light darts through a door. He quickly scampers after it, but loses sight when he rounds a corner.

He checks every room, searching for the light from top to bottom, but cannot find it. He cant remember why he wants to catch it, but he knows it's very important. He reaches his bedroom and his beloved hunting dog, Fenrir barks and gambols towards him.

"Hello puppy! I've missed you." young Loki says and combs his fingers through his pet's fluffy grey fur. Fenrir licks his face, and wags happily. "I can not play with you now. Have you seen a fairy light?"

Fenrir tilts his head and whines.

Loki whispers. "I don't know where it is, but I need to find it. Will you help me?" His overly large puppy barks an affirmative and runs for the door.

Loki follows his sniffing hound around his home, searching from room to room. They search for hours, in the kitchens, the Library, the armoury, Thor's room, his mother's spinning and weaving room, even the weapons vault. the but at last Fenrir barks and runs down a flight of stairs to scratch at a closed door.

Loki has never seen this door before. Its made of frosted glass, and has a square with little numbers on it high above him. It puzzles him for a moment, and he calls Fenrir over to him.

"Stay puppy!" little Loki moves his dog under the numbers, and crawls up onto his back. Loki clenches his fur in his hands. "Now up!" Fenrir pushes up against the glass with his front legs and Loki just manages to reach the numbers. He knows exactly what to push. 1, 0, 6.

There is a little beep, and the door unlocks.

"Good boy!" Loki rubs his dog's ears. Fenrir Licks his face in reply, then calmly saunters off back down the hall.

Little Loki reaches high up for the door latch and pushes it open.

Inside is a room with a slick black floor, grey stone walls, and a high ceiling. Hundreds of odd tools are scattered hap-haphazardly around a few dozen tables. There are a few suits of armour against the back wall, some taken apart and placed on the floor and tables.

"_I found you_!" he shouts with glee and jumps to catch the little amber light just out of reach. The little fairy light moves to a table in the centre of the room, and enters a small glass container. Loki runs over to the eye level counter and tries to reach the box. His tiny fingers just manage to move the box slightly, but he cannot get a grip on it.

There is a whirr above his head, and Loki watches in amazement as a magical suit arm reaches over the table and picks it up for him. The arm whirrs again and it lowers the box, and places it in his hand.

Inside is a little glass device that holds the ball of amber light. There is a tail at one end, and the front of it reminds Loki of a clock face. A metal band is encircles the device, and Loki reads aloud the writing.

"Proof that Tony stark _still lives_."

Loki reads the words again, and his head begins to ache fiercely. Suddenly the little amber light flickers and begins to dim. "No, whats wrong little light?" he cries and clutches it to his chest instinctively.

"Don't go! _I've just found you, You cant leave me!_" Tears run down his cheeks as the light continues to dim. Little Loki begins to bawl.

"My sweet baby boy, what is upsetting you so?"

Loki turns to see his mother, clad in a silken gold dress, standing in the doorway. He runs up to her, seeking comfort, and hugs her knees.

"Momma!" Loki sobs "Its dying! I don't want him to die! What do I do?"

His mother kneels before him, and gives him a hug. "Let me see what's wrong. May I hold it, Loki?" she asks quietly.

Loki hesitates, but gently hands the box over to his mother.

His mother gingerly moves the box in her hands. A tiny smile appears on her face, then her eyes brim with tears."Oh my poor child, I understand..." She says and with a flick of her wrist, the glass box vanishes, leaving the flickering device in her palm. "Its very faint sweetling, I do not think he will last much longer." His mother says with a note of sadness in her voice.

"But you have to help me fix it!" Loki cries. "I helped make it, If _-he-_ dies then _I'll_ die!"

His mother sighs heavily. "Loki dear, are you sure this is what you want?"

Loki manages a small smile. "Yes momma, I love him with my whole heart!"Loki eagerly makes his point by spreading his arms wide.

His mother laughs softly at his actions, and lays a finger on his heart. "I hope there is some left for me."

"Oh yes momma! I love you lots too. Can you help me, please?" Loki pleads and gently takes the flickering amber light from his mother's warm hands.

His mother strokes his hair softly, and he looks into her kind eyes. "Alright Loki, I will help you. But this will be our little secret, ok darling?" She brings a finger to her lips and winks playfully.

"Ok!" He says and winks back.

"Hold it in your hands dear, like this." His mother cups his hands around the amber light, and places her own on top of them. His mother begins to call upon her magic, and Loki watches the beautiful golden treads weave from his mothers heart, down her hands and Into his own. His mothers golden light fills his body with energy, strength, and most importantly, her everlasting love.

"Momma its so warm! Thank-you."

"Stay still Loki, I am almost done."

_His mother's magic flows from her heart, through his own, and at last to the heart of Tony Stark._

Loki gasps as the memories flash before his eyes. The battle on Midgard, the fall to Jotunheim, the journey to the temple, the fight with Laufey, the time in his cell.

And everywhere is his Anthony. Caring for him, consoling him, understanding his pain, helping him heal, fighting along side him, kissing him, and dancing in a dream world they created together.

His warm amber light, his love, his star, his reason, _Tony._

Loki, no longer a child, clutches the heart of Tony Stark in his hands. The magic provided by his mother has strengthened the amber glow.

"Mother, how did you-"

"I only added to what you had already set in place. It was very brave of you to give him last of your magic to him, knowing you might perish because of it. It was just enough to protect his mind." She taps the symbol of the arc reactor in his hands. "He lives in here. Bring this to him, and he shall return to you."

His mother gently takes the reactor from his hands, and pushes it against his chest. There is a wondrous warmth flooding from it, and he reaches up to touch it. Together he and his mother push Tony's heart into his body. Loki looks down, and can see the amber light shine out through his skin. He sighs in delight as Tony's heart recognizes him, and settles right beside his own.

"Now it will be protected by you, until you can give it back to him." His mother looks at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "I have one more gift for you, my son."

Frigga walks over with him to a shining suit of armour, hanging on a form. Loki notices right away that the suit is missing a gauntlet. "But this is-"

"Hold still dear, while I prepare you for battle." His mother interrupts, and hands him a shining boot. Loki obediently puts it on, and a second one follows the first.

As his mother dresses him in the armour, she begins an ancient spell of protection, healing and courage.

She buckles his greaves onto his shins.

"_By the moon of the birch tree_,"

She puts on his knee guards.

"_Grant my son courage in all things_,"

She places his pant coverings around him.

"_Lend his back strength, his hands skill, and give him endurance to do what must be done._"

She clasps his belt around him.

"_May he love with a fire so fierce, no cruel words may breach it_."

She gently places his breast plate over his head.

"_May his limbs be whole, His blood clean, and his mind free from mists and storms_."

She attaches his back-piece to the breast plate

"_Bind each wound, and help him see past the tears._"

She adjusts the chest piece, and smiles at him.

"_May his words be as strong as the ancient tree_,"

She slips on a shoulder guard.

"_For once his vows are made, they must be fought for._"

She slips on the second guard.

"_I give him my love to keep him going,"_

She takes his wrist and slides an arm bracer on.

"_I keep him under my wing, and give him courage._"

She sets his other arm bracer on him.

"_Let my prayer be brought swift and true to the two hearts he carries_."

She puts the single gauntlet on his left hand.

"_Help him bear the unbearable_."

And lastly she places his helmet upon his head.

"_Guide him on his true path, whatever it may be, and help his mind be strong enough to see it through."_

The armour is faintly glowing with green and gold light now, but the brightest light comes from a tiny window in the breastplate. Loki can feel Tony's heart beat beside his own, and the amber light pulses with each contraction.

His mother takes his hand in her own. "My son, I have given you everything I can. The rest is up to you now."

Loki embraces his mother In a fierce hug, and is unaware of the joyous tears that spring from his eyes. "Thank-you for understanding what I must do."

His mothers eye's eyes begin to water. "I love you, my sweet boy. Please be careful!"

"I will mother. I love you too." Frigga takes his head in her hands and kisses the crown of his hair.

"_Goodbye my son, You must awaken from this dream now. Go and find your lover, and save him!"_

_..._

With his mother's kiss, Loki is thrust back into the wakening world. He is momentarily startled when all he can see is darkness. His breath echos in his ears, and there is a flash of light that makes him wince.

"_Alternative power source online now. Levels are holding at 200% capacity."_

"What is this?" Loki struggles into a sitting position, but there is unusual weight and stiffness to his body.

"_Hello sir_, you may call me J.A.R.V.I.S. I am master Stark's personal assistant."

Loki brings his hands to his face and pulls at the helmet.

"Let me get that for you, sir." Jarvis opens the faceplate, and at last Loki can see.

_He is wearing Tony's Iron man suit. Or at least most of it. The right gauntlet is still missing. _

Loki brings himself to a standing position, and braces himself against the wall.

"How is this possible?" he asks in awe, and flexes his newly healed wrist and jaw.

"Courtesy of Mistress Frigga. She would also like me to remind you that if you intend to visit other realms that you consider taking your brother with you next time. It would enable her to rest easier if you did."

Loki laughs, overwhelmed with emotions. There is an echoing flutter in his chest, and Tony's heart laughs with him. Loki looks down and he can see the amber glow emit from the chest piece window. The rest of the suit still bears the marks of the avalanche, but his magic is filling the gaps and joints, protecting him. _His magic! _Loki takes in a deep breath, and lets it swell around him. _So much power!_

A stomp announces the approaching footsteps of a Jotun, and Loki readies himself for a fight. The giant, collar in hand, comes in view of his cell. It looks up, and as it takes in a breath to yell, Loki raises his left hand and fires a bolt of his green magic, obliterating the cell door, _and _the Jotun behind it.

"I see why Tony fancies this!" Loki remarks, and jumps over the ruined corpse.

"Sir, I have located Master Anthony. Engaging heads up display." Jarvis pipes in his ear.

The faceplate closes with a clang, and Loki is presented to a virtual model of the burrows. He flicks his eyes at a little flashing red light, and the image enlarges. Several dozen little blue lights line the path from his current location to Tony's.

"I am going to enjoy this _immensely_." Loki chuckles darkly.


	12. break the boundaries of our fear

**Authors note:** This is the last chapter for _this_ story. I will be making **another story** that continues on from the events of "The breathless fall". It is called **"Landing somewhere unexpected"** and rest assured the adventures of Tony and Loki are just beginning!

Also **"_svell valdr" _**refers to the four legged monster that attacks Loki and the warriors on Jotenheim in "Thor" its official name was just "Frost creature" so I had to jazz it up. It should translate to "Ice wolf" from old Norse.

While Laufey is in Tony's body I will use the pronoun "It" and "it's"

And thank-you, thank-you, thank-you to everyone who reads this and all of you who leave comments. I cant believe I've gotten over 5,500 views for my first story! Hugs for everyone!

**Artist's note:** special thanks to _Onyx Aconite_ for letting me use her amazing description of Loki!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations. I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Dedication:** This whole series I dedicate to my little brother. (His birthday was a few days ago!) He has helped me so much creating this story. He is my best friend, and confidant. We get into all sorts of trouble, but he always has my back. So thanks little bro, for being so darn cool.

**Chapter 12**

"**Our dreams will break the boundaries of our fear"**

Loki puts his back to the wall, trying to get out of range from the Jotun's ice shards. He has managed to corner a large group of them in the altar room, and is slowly picking them off one by one. One of the monsters gets a lucky throw, and the icicle screeches down his leg before rebounding off the armour. Loki calls up his spear with his newly returned magic , and launches it like a javelin into the Jotun's chest. The beast squeals pitifully as it dies and Loki sneers wickedly. He tumbles into the main room, and sends out searing blasts of magic in every direction.

Loki growls as the red haze that covers his eyes threatens to overwhelm him. He attacks the closest beast in a howl of rage, savagely tearing into it. He shows no mercy for any creature. He was granted none, and they shall receive none from him. He wrenches his spear from a dead beast, and uses it to cut open the throat of another. He moves from monster to monster this way, slashing, obliterating and killing them all with a ruthlessness that he has never known. His anger is so great that he is past the point of speech, whatever sounds he can form are twisted in his throat to a constant animalistic snarl.

Loki takes his revenge for every cut that was drawn over his flesh, every second of inhumane torment he was made to endure, every single time he was broken and beaten. But lastly and mostly, he takes his revenge for _his_ Anthony, who was torn from his body and left for dead.

He reaches the last beast in the room, and flings a dagger into its soft belly. Two more follow in quick succession, cutting short the creatures choked gasp, but he is not yest satisfied. Loki remorseless, hits the beast over and over until his arm begins to ache.

"Sir, I believe that creature has been dead for quite some time now."

Loki irritably smacks the side of his helmet, wishing the voice would stop speaking to him.

He retrieves his slick dagger from the corpse and turns to the symbol of his pain, the altar. Tony's heart quivers beside his own as he nears the stone slab. Loki comforts him with images of cracking stone, and he receives Tony's encouragement for what he is about to do. He raises his hand and lets his magic seep over the altar, working into every flaw and divot. He can feel Tony's fear and pain radiating at the surface, and as he goes deeper, there is a faint memory of his own anguish. This is the very spot where he was torn to pieces, again and again. This is where his heart was ripped out nightly, and the darkest core of ice from Jotunheim itself was thrust into his chest, obliterating all thought and feeling until all he knew was pain. Loki digs his magic into the very foundation of the stone, and with a swift motion, _obliterates_ the altar entirely. It explodes in a shower of dust, and the debris _tink_ off of his helmet.

The powdered stone coats his armor, and Loki flares his magic around his body, enjoying the satisfaction of his renewed strength. As his power accumulates around his back and shoulders, he catches a reflection of himself against the ice walls.

An unrecognizable form looks back at him. The Iron man armor is covered in white dust, and the Jotun's dark blue blood has collected in strings and smears. His vented magic flairs off his back in waves, and it gives him an imposing silhouette of fiery emerald wings. The eyes through the helmet smolder with his unquenchable thirst for bloodshed.

_He is an Angel of vengeance, terrible and beautiful in his anger. He is righteousness, he is fury, he is justice incarnate unleashed upon his former tormentors._

_HE IS A GOD!_

"Sir, Anthony's body is on the move." Jarvis pipes up, wrenching him from his thoughts.

Loki shakes his head to try to focus on the flickering lights inside the helmet. "Tony's" dot is slowly making its way down to the river Iving.

"Do not lose it!" Loki snarls, and runs through the large door, and into the burrows.

He follows the dot around a corner, and spots a Jotun running towards him. He quickens his pace, and without losing any momentum, fires a blast at point blank range vaporizing the top half of the creature. He smiles as another beast appears from an offshoot, throwing its fist on the ground, sending a wave of ice spikes along the ground towards him. Loki laughs as the spikes squeal and crack over his armor, causing no harm to him whatsoever. Loki flicks his wrist along the ice wall, and several jagged points of ice pin the unfortunate creature to the wall. He runs past it, not even bothering to finish off the howling wreck.

Two heavily armored giants guard the door in front of him, brandishing their Ice-sword-arms. Loki winds up his spear and swings hard, knocking off the helmet and snapping the neck of the first creature. The second swings its sword arm, and Loki catches it with his gauntlet hand, and pulls the creature down and forward, flipping it on its back. The beasts arm cracks from the unnatural angle, and the ice blade shatters.

"Pathetic." Loki spits, and places his foot on the creatures neck. He tugs up on the arm, gaining the leverage to snap its spine in two. "Weak."

"Sir, Anthony's body is nearing the river, I suggest you hurry."

"Enough machine! I know this!" Loki barks at Jarvis.

Loki kicks open the door with enough force to blow it from its hinges. The loud bang resonates off the river chamber walls, and Laufey/Tony turns from the cliff to stare at him. The clawed crown is attached to the frozen mess of Tony's hair, and Loki notices something disturbing as it steps from the shadow of a column. The creature possessing his lover's body has managed to corrupt Tony's form by altering Loki's original binding spell. Laufey/Tony skin is as blue as a true Jotun, and newly cut designs are etched all over its body. It has clothed itself in a chain mail and leather kilt, and a leg brace carved of bone and rough hide. Inside the tube in its chest radiates the black heart of Laufey which creates terrifying under-lit shadows on Tony's face. That effect in combination with the piercing red eyes give the illusion that his lover has turned into a demon.

"**My pet..."** Its says, still using a hollow mimic of Tony's voice. It looks him up and down, eyes lingering over his weapon and suit .**"How dare you bare your fangs at me! I command you to shed your armor, and beg for my forgiveness... I might just let you live." **Laufey sneers, hardening Tony's face into a cruel mask.

Loki continues forward, spear raised in challenge. "You have taken what belongs to _me_." He begins in a throaty growl. "Return it, without harm, and I shall make your true death as painless as possible."

Laufey/Tony laughs deeply, pulling the skin tightly over his teeth in a grimace of insanity. **"This body is mine now. Your bed-mate is long gone pet... there is nothing left for you to save!" **

Loki's hand reaches for the amber light beaming from his chest. Tony's heart begins to beat wildly, eager to return to his body. "He is not gone, you decaying blight upon flesh! He sleeps beneath my heart, and I will see to it that you are drawn from his body, like poison from a wound. And when you are stripped from him completely, I will destroy every last trace of you and your power!" His voice is shakes with heartache and loss, and he tries to hold himself together. His spear lowers its point slightly, giving away his weakness to Laufey. He can not harm him as long as he possesses Tony's body.

Laufey/ Tony takes a few steps closer to him, catching the unwillingness of Loki to resort to violence against his partner. **"Your silver-tongue is quick pet, but its little barbs cannot harm me. Perhaps I shall rip it from your mouth and feed it to **_**svell valdr**_**."**

Loki takes a faltering step forward. "Enough!" he shouts his voice cracking in sorrow. "Leave his body now, or I shall-"

"**Hurt me?"** Laufey/Tony taunts him, and moves closer until his throat touches the tip of Loki's outstretched spear. **"You can not muster the courage to harm **_**his**_** body" **Laufey/Tony lets his hand glide along Loki's spear until its hand nearly touches his. **"You will never know joy again while I control this body. Words of hope will turn to ash in your mouth. I will break you, intimately, repeatedly, with this body until you succumb to my every whim. You are powerless to stop me... pet."** Laufey/Tony finishes its speech with one hand brushing down Loki's helmet in a mockery of a lovers caress.

_Loki has been expecting this. _

_What Laufey has been saying is not the promise of pain and torment. No, he has condemned himself with his own words. Laufey knows on some level that Loki finally now has the power to end him, and all he has done since he has entered the room, is beg for his life. A bully and a coward hoping to fell his enemies with a hollow front of power, backed up with empty words and twisted lies._

_Every word Loki spoke to him was so carefully chosen. Gestures, he made all intentional. He needed Laufey to have the illusion of control right until the end , because he had to be the one to close the gap between them. The moment Laufey chose to step close to him, is the moment when he was defeated._

"Power conduits re-routed to the central core, sir"

"fire "

Time slows for the half second that it takes for his magic to be converted into a repulsor blast, and Laufey/Tony , finally realizing the trap Loki has set for it, manages the start of a scream before it is launched into the column behind it.

The force of the suits blow is far less damaging than his own magics. Laufey/Tony's head bashes against the column and its broken leg crumples beneath it as it falls to the ground. Loki is beside it in a flash, pinning Laufey/Tony against the floor while it is stunned. He reaches in the tube for Laufey's heart, and as his hand closes on the cold beating flesh, he is yanked into Laufey/Tony's mind.

_The darkness that floods his senses is overwhelming. The Iron man suit no-longer protects him. He has no power in this mindscape. The dark magic is plugging his ears, blinding his eyes and choking him with each breath. Loki struggles to ward off the abyss intent on drowning him. He gags on the taste of Laufey's magics trying to worm their way into his body. _

_But..._

There is a light here.

Loki's chest begins to warm and the amber light that is Tony, pushes back the shadows. The darkness shrivels against the onslaught of the light, and with each beat of Tony's heart, is driven farther back. The warmth in this chest grows hot and Loki can feel Tony's heart hammer against his ribs, seeking a way out. Loki places his hand over his chest, and gently wraps his magic around the little heart. He slowly draws it out from beside his own, and winces as it leaves his body. The beautiful warmth is gone from him. He lifts the light in his palm, and holds it out for his partner.

An emerald shimmer begins to envelop the amber light, and Loki knows that Tony's mind has recognized the return of Its heart. The shimmer begins to solidify around the light, and Loki can see his companion begin to take shape. The outline of his body forms with the light at its heart. First the legs take shape, whole and unbroken in this mindscape. Then the waist and chest materialize, and Loki can see the rise an fall of steady breathing. The arms and hands come into focus, with one hand pressing Loki's against his newly formed chest. And lastly Tony's face forms, a sweet smile on his lips, and his amber eyes shimmering, full of light and love.

"Loki..." Tony murmurers, and takes him into a kiss full of longing. Loki surrenders himself completely to his lovers embrace, and savors the taste of Tony on his tongue. The warmth floods back into him from his partner, and Loki utters a sob of relief. Tony runs his fingers through his hair, and crushes Loki's lips against his with a fierce passion.

_But a cold chill begins to creep up his spine._

Loki can feel the darkness creep closer to them, and reluctantly breaks off from Tony. "Laufey..."

"Ya, I can sense the bastard too." Tony glowers beside him. "Disgusting." He spits. "I feel contaminated, Like worse than the Palladium poisoning." Tony shivers, then gags. "Oh god that's... He's everywhere...moving under my skin. Stop it! GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU UGLY FUCK!"

The mindscape quivers around them at Tony's plight, and the darkness of Laufey billows around them.

"Anthony, focus!" Loki says his hands on Tony's shoulders.

There is a great peal of laughter, and the darkness collects into a rolling cloud. Laufey's voice rumbles like thunder. "THIS BODY IS MINE! YOU WILL NOT HAVE IT!"

Tony clutches his head, fingers white with tension. "Come here and FIGHT ME!"

"Tony, the darkness is only a representation of Laufey in your mind. You have power here, far more than it does." Loki pries the tight hands from his partners temples. "Call him into a physical form, and together we will purge him from your body and mind."

Tony spreads his arms wide, and slowly pushes them together. He strains with enormous effort, but Loki watches as the darkness begins to collect around a shadowy figure.

There is a great howl from the dark cloud as it shrinks and solidifies. It collapses in on itself and with a snarl, Laufey, now in physical form, slices through the cloud and lunges for Tony. Laufey brings up his silver magic and creates ice swords on his arms as he swings hard, aiming to decapitate Tony.

Tony responds with a flourish of light, as his mind forms the Iron man gauntlets around him. He leads with a perfectly timed wrist block, pushing the sword arms above his head, leaving Laufey's torso vulnerable. He winds up and punches Laufey hard enough to send him sprawling backwards.

"And thus begins my long road to recovery." Tony quips as he flexes his gauntlets. "This is going to be _so_ much better than a therapist."

Laufey growls and thrusts up at Tony's head. Tony ducts and twists using his momentum to spin around and kick him hard across the ribs. Laufey is flung head over heels and into Loki's range.

Loki immediately takes one of Laufey's arms, and yanks it backwards with a _snap. _Loki continues twisting the arm until it pops from its socket, and the ice blade shatters. Laufey howls and kicks Loki's feet out from under him. Loki drops the arm and tries to bring his own hands up to block, but Laufey manages to drive his remaining ice blade into Loki's shoulder. Loki cries out.

_he did not expect to feel pain in this illusion of the mind_.

Tony comes to his rescue in a flash, jumping on the monsters back, and putting him in a choke hold.

Laufey gags and swipes uselessly with his dislocated arm, and snarls as he is forced to left go of Loki to attack Tony. The blade is freed from his body, and Loki takes a dagger from his side to flick it into the meat of Laufey's thigh, further crippling the creature. Tony who is now hanging on for dear life, manages a few good kicks to Laufey's back, forcing the monster to expose his stomach. Loki calls up his spear, and rams it as hard as he can into Laufey's solar plexus. The creature's stomach muscles spasm, and it is unable to take in air. Tony tightens his hold, and Laufey is now completely unable to breathe.

Laufey struggles to take swing at him. Loki stops the creatures swing mid-reach with his bare hand. He squeezes as hard as he can, and is rewarded with deeply satisfying wet snaps . Howling in pain, the creature's legs begin to shake. "Kneel before me!" Loki bellows, and twists the dagger in its thigh. "I said KNEEL!" He commands, and with a silent roar of defeat, Laufey is forced on his knees before Loki. Loki revels at the look of the utter humiliation and defeat on his enemies's face.

The creature begins to swallow rapidly and Loki can tell it's trying to speak. He gives Tony a nod.

Tony loosens his choke hold just enough to allow for Laufey's final words.

The fallen god at his feet lets out a halting cough. "Loki..." It rumbles. "If you kill me now, you will condemn your mortal pet to an agonizing death..." Loki squeezes the god's broken wrist, earning him a roar or pain.

"I have no desire to listen to your ramblings!" Loki shouts and puts his spear up to Laufey's throat.

Tony adjusts his hold so he is pinning the monsters hands behind its back. "What do you mean I'm going to die?"

"As I possess your body, I am able to slowly dissolve the shards in your chest, mortal."

"LIES." Loki growls and digs the point into Laufey's neck.

"Loki, wait!" Tony pleads.

Laufey chuckles to himself. "He does not wish you to know mortal."

Tony bores his eyes into Loki's. "What the hell is he talking about Loki?"

"Do not listen to him! He is trying to deceive you!" Loki retorts.

Laufey's face splits in a wicked grin. " If you let me take possession of this mortal's body, I will rid him of the metal slivers in his chest. After I have cured him, and regained enough strength to create a body of my own, I will have need of him no longer. I shall return him to you, whole, as a gift... but his mind will be lost forever."

Loki avoids Tony's piercing gaze and lets Laufey continue. "Would you not enjoy such a pet? One who's mind is yours to shape, and who's body is yours to use as you please?"

Loki hesitates, contemplating how Laufey might be able to cure Tony. It is just for a moment, but Tony misunderstands.

"You twisted son of a bitch! That was your plan all along wasn't it?" Tony is furious, and torn between holding Laufey' arms back and launching himself at Loki. "You fucking played me from the start! All those "memories" you gave me, to take pity on you, all those time you save me just to get me to trust you, and it wasn't enough to get me on your side, you had to... to..." Tony's rage mixes with anguish. "God-damn it Loki, you actually got me to care about you! Why? So you could take my heart before my mind?" Tony utters a breathless sob, clinging to Laufey's back. "And what after? I was just going to be a toy for you to use? Unable to fight back?"

Tony's words of betrayal cut deeply into him, but he cannot afford to let Laufey see his despair. Loki looks into his companions eyes and sees the silver glint of Laufey's magic has seeped into them. He is losing Tony...

"No!" Loki yells at Laufey. "Let him go!"

"See how easily I can twist his frail mind?" Laufey whispers, and Tony gives no notice that he has heard him speak. "This is something you will never do. You do not know the magics to hold a soul captive, and you cannot cure him without possessing him! Let me take his body. A few hundred years is a short time for you to get your pet back." Laufey begs.

"ENOUGH!" Loki shouts. "I will _never _let you have him!" he puts all his weight behind his spear, and in one swift stroke, cleaves Laufey's head from his shoulders.

_There is a great thunderous boom and the white of Tony's mindscape crashes around Laufey's body and head. Loki is lost in the rushing cloud and he is unable to get to Tony, who he can hear screaming. The cloud engulfs him and he is being squeezes with great force. Loki is thrust violently from Tony's mind and back into the waking world. _

Loki fades back into consciousness. He has collapsed on top Tony's body, and the still beating heart of Laufey is clenched in his hands. He rips it from Tony's chest and flings it to the side.

"Anthony!" Loki runs his hand over Tony's face, searching for any sign that Laufey still controls him. As Loki brushes his fingertips across his companions eyelids, they flicker open. The beautiful, intelligent, courageous amber eyes stare back at him.

"Hey..." Tony whispers in a raspy voice, and a tiny smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "The suit looks good on you. Very heroic."

"Tony!" Loki gasps, and he places his hand over his lovers chest, searching with his magic for any lingering part of Laufey. Loki can see the light of Tony's spirit burn clear and bright and he knows without a doubt that his lover has returned to him, whole in spirit and mind.

"Loki, I didn't meant it... he was making me say whatever he wanted at the end."

Loki plants a quick but sweet kiss on his lips. "I know. Its alright Tony."

"It is good to see you again sir! Your new reactor is finished and awaiting you at Stark tower. " Jarvis pipes up in a cheery voice from the helmet.

"Hey buddy thanks for finishing that. Good you hear your voice. " Tony pokes a finger at the green light coming from the suit's reactor covering. "You have to tell me the story behind this."

"Later Tony, I promise, but we are not yet finished." Loki gestures to the beating heart of Laufey on the ice.

"Is that him?" Tony points to the black heart.

"Yes." Loki fumbles with a suit clasp just over his hips. "Mother should have... ah, here it is."

"Mother?"

"Another time."

Loki fishes out a firebox case from the suit compartment. He hands it to Tony and reaches over to retrieve the heart. Even though the Iron man's gauntlet, he can feel the evil taint emanating from it. He places the heart on the floor just inside Tony's reach. Loki calls up a dagger from his magics and grasps the hilt with one clenched fist, and places the gauntlet hand on top fro leverage.

"If we stab the heart, and burn it, Laufey will suffer a true death."

"He wont come back? Really, really?"

"Yes, he will never return. _Really._"

Tony twists off the top of the tube and pulls out the three little bags. He opens them all and places the stone, sand, and lastly the few drops of liquid in. He screws on the cap, shakes it, and then opens the lid. He places the warming tube against the column.

"Ready."

"Place your hand on top of mine. We will end him together."

Tony places his hands on top of Loki's gauntlet hand and nods.

"Know that your true and everlasting death came from Loki, god of Asgard." Loki begins.

"And Tony Stark, Iron man, and Avenger, wishes that you will burn in hell forever."

Together the push downwards and stab the heart to the floor. Loki continues to press down, until the hilt is pushing up against the faltering walls of muscle. He twists the knife, and pushes again until the heart struggles to beat at all. With one great heave the heart pushes up against the blade, and Tony presses his weight down on top of Loki's hands. The heart gives up under the strain and utters one last beat before collapsing.

"Quickly, the fire!" Loki hisses and Tony lets go to pick up the now smoking hot firebox. Loki puts his hands away, as Tony pours a molten substance over the still heart.

There is a horrendous squeal, and smoke begins to curdle from the heart. Tony empties the tube, and with a pop, the heart bursts into flame. It screams with a tiny voice and Tony inches himself farther away. The black smoke billows from the heart and Loki watches with a hungry intensity as the heart is devoured by flame.

The floor begins to melt around it and there is a last angry roar of fire, and the heart dissolves into black muck.

"It is finished, Laufey is well and truly dead."

"Thank god."

"You are most welcome Stark."

"Gallows humour Loki?"

"I learned from the best."

"Urg..." Tony winces hard and clutches his chest. "Oh... bad.. very bad. We need to get home. Like now. Like ten minutes ago.. Oh god,_ Loki_!" Tony's body spasms and he catches Loki's hand in a vice like grip. "Whatever he did to keep me alive has... no, no... come on..."

"Anthony! The river is right below us, can you walk?"

Tony's body contorts in another spasm and he turns a ghostly white.

"Hold on!"

Loki wraps his arms around his seizing companion's body, and picks him up, holding him close to his chest.

He runs for the ledge and stops to bring up his magics. He focuses on Stark tower, and Jarvis closes his helmet.

"Here sir, directions to the fabrication wing."

Loki looks down to Tony through the eyes of his Iron man suit. "Hold your breath Anthony!" Tony gives him the tiniest of nods, and Loki jumps into the river.

Loki clutches Tony to his chest underwater, and shouts the spell for movement and destination through the helmet. It begins to fill up with water, and Loki frantically finishes the last of the sending spell before the water closes over his lips. There is a tight pull across his chest as his magic is ripped from his body, and Loki is thrust sideways, and into the mouth of Iving. Bright flashes of colour cascade through his eyelids and Loki is stretched through time and space. His ears are ringing and the water in his helmet is making it impossible for him to breathe. Just when he reaches the point of panic, his ears pop as he reaches his destination. The river closes its mouth, and he is slammed into a slick floor.

Loki slides across the tiled floor and crashes back first into a table. His head smacks against it, and Jarvis opens his helmet, letting the water pour out. Loki coughs, and as he takes a breath, an alarm begins to blare with defining volume. Red light flashes in the pitch dark room and Loki manages to catch snipits of his surroundings.

"Machine! Where is Tony's reactor?" Loki shouts trying to be heard over the din. He is painfully empty of his magics and it takes everything he has not to keel over as he moves. The trip has taken too much from him.

"This way." Jarvis lights up a table on the far side of the room.

Loki places Tony on the floor and tries to stand. The suit begins to fall apart around him. He stumbles and falls on the floor with a bang.

"Automated release system is malfu ..." Jarvis's voice dies in his helmet. Loki is no-longer able to power the suit. He tears at it in a rage, ripping pieces from his body in an effort to free himself.

There is a voice over the noise, a woman, shouting. Something slams against the door, and as Loki pulls the last piece of armor from his chest and arms, a gunshot resonates from outside the door. It bends on its hinges, but holds. More voices are shouting now, and Loki scrambles over to the table Jarvis lit up for him. He spots the reactor inside a macing with a glass door, and he shatters the barrier with his fist. More bangs echo with the blaring alarm and Loki closes his hands on the reactor. He yanks it from the case and his arm is catches on the shards, drawing blood from elbow to wrist. He hisses in pain and finds Tony in the darkness with a red flash from the alarm.

"Tony I have it." Loki says as he slides beside his companion.

Tony's chest bucks up, and Loki forces it down. He clasps the end of the wire of the arc reactor and puts his hand into Tony's chest. His partner gasps, and Loki's hand, slick with blood fumbles for the opening slot at he back of the plate.

There is a howl outside the door, _Thor, that was Tho-_

**BOOM!**

The door is blow completely off its hinges as his brother smashes through them with Mjölnir.

"Where are you intruder?" He bellows, tossing a table to the side.

The soldier rushes in behind him, shield raised. "Tony?" he questions and Loki can hear the pleading in his voice.

"Jarvis, Lights!" Natasha calls out, and Loki is blinded with the rush of bright light. It burns into his sensitive eyes, making him gasp involuntarily.

"LOKI!" She screams at him, and he tries to focus on her wavering silhouette. "What are you.. Stark!"

_Natasha flinches internally at the scene. Tony is covered in rags and blood, convulsing on the floor. Loki has his hand inside Tony`s chest, caught in mid- tear as he tries to rip the reactor from his body. The dark shadows on Loki's face give her nothing but malice and fury. This monster has held Tony for a week, torturing him, tormenting him, and finally returned him. If she hadn't been wandering the hall right then, Loki would have ripped out Tony`s reactor for a trophy, and left his broken body for them to find._

_"This is for Tony, you sick bastard."_


	13. Epilogue : What Widow did

**********Authors note:** This is the last chapter for _this_ story. I will be making **another story** that continues on from the events of "The breathless fall". It is called **"Landing somewhere unexpected"** and rest assured the adventures of Tony and Loki are just beginning!

******Disclaimer: **I do not own any marvel characters or their movie interpretations. I've done this for fun and I hope you enjoy! Also this is set after Iron man 3 and the avengers. Loki escaped to earth and Tony never had romantic feelings for pepper. (Hence the arc reactor is still in his chest)

**Epilogue**

"What Widow did."

"_This is for Tony, you sick bastard!" _

Natasha takes aim Loki, and fires off a shot. It hits the god squarely in the shoulder, throwing his arm back. Steve rushes in ahead of her and wrenches the Arc reactor from his hands, and then turns to Tony.

Loki curls up in a ball on the floor, hand clenched around his wound. She walks over to him and aims the gun at his head.

"One wrong move, and I blow your head off, understand?"

Loki Looks up at her, his face carefully constructed to show fear. But she will not stand for his games.

"Lady Natasha, do not harm my brother-" Thor starts, and leans towards Loki.

"Did you see what he did Thor? Look at Tony! He's been held captive by Loki for a week. The man is nearly dead."

"And he will pay for the harm he has caused!" Thor actually _growls_ at Loki as he bends down to pick him up by the scruff of his shirt.

"Here! Not on Asgard." She retorts. "We do not have the time to debate this. Now ether you take him with me, or he leaves this room on a cold tray, got it?"

Thor tightens the grip on his hammer, and Natasha gives him her most treating glare.

"Don't even try me." she says icily.

Tony screams and she watches from the corner of her eye as Steve has puts the reactor back in his chest.

Thor scowls. "A truce then. I will allow you to take him, but I wish to question him myself."

Loki weakly grabs his brother's arm holding him aloft. His hands slick with blood, cant find a grip.

"Thor, listen to me. I did what I had to-"

"Enough lies brother!" Thor places his hammer on a table, and raises his fist. "I will not be swayed by your twisted logic. Loki, What you did to this man is cowardly and wrong."

"You do not understand, I needed -" Loki pretends to beg.

"Perhaps this time we can cure the madness that plagues you." Thor winds up his fist.

"Thor, NO!" Loki shouts, and Natasha watches as Thor punches Loki in the stomach. His brother's eyes roll in the back of his head, and he slumps like a rag doll in Thor's arms.

Natasha touches her earpiece and listens to the pilot's call-sign, announcing his arrival. "Get him to the rooftop." Natasha barks at Thor. "The S.H.I.E.L.D Heli-jet is on its way."

"But what of-"

"Hawkeye is already up there, now go! I'll take care of Stark."

Thor barrels past her, Loki draped over his shoulder. He skids on a patch of water, then runs through the door.

Natasha crouches beside Steve. "How is he?"

"He lost consciousness for a moment when I plugged it back in." Steve is cradling Tony in his arms and checking him over for injury. Tony's eyes are glazed over with pain, and he blinks slowly. "Stay still Tony, the medics are on there way."

"Loki really did a number on him." Natasha traces her hand along one of the dozens of tiny cuts that cover his bare torso. "This seems ritualistic."

Steve points to the fur and leather wrap in Tony's leg. "I think his leg is broken." Natasha catches a note of worry in the Captain's usually calm voice.

"Shit." Natasha presses her earpiece. "We need a stretcher down in the fabrication wing." She frowns when she notices the lack of body fat on Tony. "He was starved too."

Steve's shirt is slowly soaking up the water and blood from Tony's body. "He's freezing!" Tony shivers hard in his arms. His head lolls to the side and Steve tires to support him.

Natasha looks up and zeros in on a extinguisher case. Underneath is a fire blanket. She runs over and smashes the glass with the butt of her gun. She fishes out the red bag, and runs back to Steve. The back widow tears open the package with her teeth, and unfolds the blanket. She places it over Tony and cups his cold face in her hands.

"Stark, you stay with us!" She follows his rolling eyes with her own, until he fixes her gaze. The Iron man is delirious and begins to mumble incoherently.

Natasha's ears prick up at the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Down here!" she shouts and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D Medical personnel enter the room.

"Leg broken, acute hypothermia, dehydration, multiple surface wounds. He is conscious but has limited responses." She barks at the nearest S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

"Yes ma'am" The agent responds and wheels in the stretcher. One of the other agents pulls a neck brace from his bag and Steve gently moves Tony's head so that he can put the brace on.

"Is Loki secured?" She asks one of the security detail. _ -__Castiel- _she notices on his Id badge. Unusual purple eyes blink back at her. "Yes ma'am, Thor and Hawyeye are in the Heli-jet now. I've received confirmation that he is ready for transport."

"Send him to Site B."

"Yes ma'am!" Agent Castiel touches his earpiece and Natasha hears him relay the information.

There is a groan from Tony as he is loaded onto the stretcher. The medics strap him down, and Steve places the blanket on top of him.

"Rogers, you're coming with me." The black widow follows the stretcher out of the room and up the stairs.

Quickly they reach the roof and Natasha runs up the Heli-jet ramp and into the cockpit. "Move." she snaps at the pilot , and he jumps out of his chair. He hands her his headset without a word and and shuffles to the empty co-pilot seat.

"I'm going to need someone to inform Miss Potts that we have Stark and are on route to site B." Natasha calls out as she flips the pre-flight switches. The engine engages with a hum, and she turns to see Steve sitting down and holding onto the stretcher near Tony's head. The Captain's face is an open book of sorrow, and Natasha can see him whispering something to Stark. Tony's hand fumbles under the blanket, and Steve gently clasps The Iron man's hand.

"Miss Potts is on her way now. She'll meet us in docking bay 4."

"Agent Castiel, please also inform Dr. Bellamy to have the OR prepped for us. I want Stark in there the moment we land."

"Yes Ma'am!"

Natasha closes the back hatch and takes off.

_An hour later..._

"OH MY GOD! TONY!" Pepper shrieks as she watches Stark being wheeled down the Heli-jet landing pad.

She immediately makes a be-line for him, but Natasha intervenes.

"Hey!" She catches Pepper in her arms and holds the struggling redhead. "Don't touch him, the medics have it covered."

Pepper hits her over the shoulders with her tiny fists. "Let me go! I have to get to him!" she wails.

_Natasha is not in the mood for this._

"Listen to me!" she clasps Miss Pott's face in her hands, making her look directly into her eyes. "If you don't get control of yourself I will ban you to the waiting room."

Pepper breaks into sobs and Natasha is left holding her up. She sighs, and her heart goes out to the poor woman in her arms. She softens her tone and begins again. "Look, why don't I wait with you, alright?"

There is a small nod against her chest and Pepper manages a small affirmative sound.

Stark is wheeled out and Natasha calls out to Steve. "Rogers! Stay with him, and don't let him out of your sight!"

"I wasn't planning to!" Steve yells over his shoulder as Stark is whisked through the doors.

"Come on Pepper," she cajoles and leads the sobbing woman through the waiting room doors.

_Much, much later..._

Pepper has cried herself to sleep, and her head is resting on Natasha's lap. She absentmindedly strokes the strawberry blond hair as she listens to Clint in her earpiece.

"Nice shot by the way, you missed his head." Clint grumbles sarcastically.

"I wasn't aiming for it. I had to get the reactor away from him." Natasha places her hand on Pepper's shoulder, stilling her movements as she stirs in her sleep. "How _is_ our prisoner?"

"Loki's still out like a light, but Thor and I are taking shifts watching him. What do you think happened to him over there?" She hears the slight crinkle of his jacket, and years of camaraderie tell her he's perched up along the railings in the containment room.

Natasha whispers as so not to wake up Pepper. "I don't know. Stark was pretty beaten up. You let me know if he so much as twitches in his sleep, ok?"

"Ya I know. But seriously, were not going to keep him here are we?" She can hear his anger creep into his voice.

"Just until we find out what we need." she sighs.

"Then what?"

"Fury hasn't decided yet."

Her headset beeps.

"Hold on, its Steve."

"We're going to talk about this later." Clint mutters darkly.

She switches channels and Steve pipes up in her earpiece.

"Tony's just being wheeled out of surgery now. Dr. Bellamy says it went well." There is a pause and Natasha hears a door being opened. "Here you go miss," the Captain politely says and Natasha can envision him holding the door open. "Ah, Thank-you. No its quite alright, the chair will be fine."

"You staying the night, Rogers?"

The door shuts over her headset and there is a rumple of a blanket being unfurled. "Yes Ma'am. I'll take the first shift. Doesn't feel right to leave him alone. How's Pepper doing?"

"She fell asleep about an hour ago. I'll wake her up to tell her the good news." Natasha shifts her legs slightly, seeking a more comfortable spot.

"Let her sleep." Steve yawns in her earpiece. "She'll need all her energy to yell at Tony tomorrow."

Natasha chuckles. "For a tiny thing she really packs a wallop." She rotates her arm, still sore from Pepper's outburst.

Steve laughs. "I bet she does... Goodnight Natasha."

"Goodnight Steve." She replies.

Natasha gently tucks a stray strand of Pepper's hair around her ear.

"Goodnight Pepper." she whispers softly.


End file.
